Significant fall in car import recorded last year
Main stock index inches up again in poor trade
Significant fall in car import recorded last year
Tema
(Greater Accra) 15 March 2001
Importation
of vehicles through the Port of Tema dropped by about 16,000 last year, showing
a significant impact of the ban on the importation of vehicles above 10 years
old.
Statistics
released by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) indicated that a
total of 35,467 vehicles were imported last year as compared to 51,454 in 1999.
Last
year, 27,282 of the vehicles were shipped in containers as compared to 8,185
the previous year.
Mr
Paul Asare-Ansah, Acting Public Affairs Manager of the GPHA said most of the
containerised vehicles were those imported from South Korea in semi-knocked
down state and the drop in their importation was due to the decision by GPHA to
stop handling such vehicles.
He
said assembling these vehicles in the port delayed forklifts and other
equipment required for other more profitable cargo handling jobs.
Mr
Asare-Ansah said a drop in vehicle imports by 16,000 in a single year is good
for the country since it will reduce fuel consumption and therefore the oil
import bill as well as minimise road accidents.
The
NDC government banned the importation of 10-year-old cars due to their high
running cost in terms of fuel consumption, maintenance and frequent accidents.
Most
of such cars seized could not be destroyed by the steel companies and the
owners have started trooping the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS)
office in Tema following the decision by the NPP government to give them back.
Miss
Monica Acquah, Tema CEPS Public Relations Officer, however, said CEPS is
waiting for a written directive from the government before releasing them for
the prescribed penalty.
GRi…/
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Main stock index inches up again in poor trade
Accra
(Greater Accra) 15 March 2001
The Ghana
Stock Exchange All-Share Index, the main market index, inched up again in
another poor trading on Wednesday as bearish sentiments continued to dominate
the bourse.
The index
gained 0.62 points at 893.95 points as only two price changes were recorded.
The change for the year is 4.19 per cent.
Traded
volumes jumped up from 8,000 shares to 89,300, but far below the vibrant
activities on the stock exchange.
Offers were
up 365,680 from 201,100 while bids were slightly higher at 159,700 from
111,700.
Only 10 out
of the 22 listed equities sold shares, with the highest of 27,200 being sold by
British-American Tobacco (BAT).
Market
capitalisation was up at 3,712.28 billion cedis from 3,711.09 billion cedis.
On the
broader market, there were two price changes, one up one down. BAT gained 20
cedis at 400 cedis and Mechanical Lloyd lost five cedis at 135 cedis.
The
following are the last prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 630
AGC 18,500
ALW
7,000
BAT 400 +20
CFAO 57
EIC 2,895
FML 900
GBL 1,350
GCB 1,610
GGL 875
HFC 952
MGL 210
MLC 135 -5
MOGL
18,700
PAF 240
PBC 475
PZ 620
SCB 21,700
SPPC 296
SSB 2,300
UNIL
1,598
CMLT 425
GRi…/
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Inter
-Bank exchange rates
Accra
(Greater Accra) 15 March 2001
Currency Buying Selling
US Dollar 6,961.09 7,181.36
Pound
Sterling 10,058.78 10,384.25
French
Franc 964.77 995.20
Swiss Franc 4,113.85
4,242.97
Deutsche
Mark 3,234.96 3,338.56
Canadian
Dollar 4,511.07 4,652.23
Japanese
Yen 58.07
59.91
Dutch
Guilder 2,871.72 2,962.27
S/African
Rand 887.99 913.75
Euro 6,327.87 6,528.10
CFA Franc 9.65 9.95
Naira 63.71 65.72
Ecowas/WAUA
9,016.76 --------
GRi…/
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