GRi Business, Economics & Finance 26 –
03 - 2003
Already 40 million dollars of
the amount has been approved by Parliament while the rest of the amount is receiving
attention from the House. Dr Thomas F. Agyapong,
Director of Policy Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring and Evaluation of the
Ministry of Works and Housing said this when a Trade delegation from the
National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) of the United States (US) paid a
courtesy on the Minister at his office in Accra
He said the country at the
moment has housing deficit of 450,000 units and would need 42,000 houses a year
before it could meet its requirement. Dr Agyapong
said the major problem facing the housing industry in the country is funding
since most investors cannot get access to long-term capital adding that this
makes it difficult for the sector to fulfil its objective.
He also said government is
proposing the setting up of a primary mortgage institution in the country where
funding for its operation would be sourced locally. Dr Agyapong
said the new scheme would provide affordable housing for the various income
groups in the country in both urban and rural areas.
He said the programme would
include building houses for rent, lease and outright payment. The President of
NBCC, Harry C. Alford said the visit is to lay the groundwork for businessmen
in the
He said his organization would
work with Ghanaian businesses so that they bring their talents and experiences
to the benefits of the two nations. The Minister of Works and House, Yaw Barimah said his outfit would be prepared to collaborate
with investors who would like to invest in the Housing sector. "We in this
Ministry will seek to explore every opportunity that would be beneficial to the
two countries," he said.
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Koforidua (Eastern Region)
It said the contributions were
the "life blood of workers and therefore the government has no right to
use it to execute its programmes without the consent of contributors." In
a two-point resolution passed after its First Quarter meeting the KDCL
cautioned, "if the deduction is carried out it is likely to disrupt the programmes
and mechanisms put in place to enable the SSNIT pension scheme remain solid
enough to pay benefits to contributors up till 2050 and beyond."
"If workers
sentiments on this matter is not considered it will cut the scheme and
its mechanism by 30 years which will not be in the best interest of
workers," the resolution said.
On the on-going Gulf War
involving the US and its coalition forces against Iraq, the KDCL described it
as "an invasion of a sovereign state, a breach of United Nations Charter
and disrespect to the world body," saying it joined "the peace loving
people worldwide to appeal to the US and its allies to cease hostilities so as
to prevent the destruction of innocent lives and property, especially women,
children, the aged and the sick."
The KDCL expressed concern that
the repercussion of the war could have "devastating effect on our economy,
especially, in terms of the possible rise in the price of petroleum
products."
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A statement signed in
Other members are Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, President of the Ghana Journalists
Association, Kwame Pianim, an economic consultant, Kwame
Gyasi, a lecturer at the University of Ghana, Legon,
Ken Ohene Agyapong, Mrs A Baiden Amissah and Mike Gizo, all members of Parliament.
The statement said the NPTB
shall have primary responsibility for assessments of ex-refinery prices of all
petroleum products at the Tema Oil Refinery or imported for distribution on the
In the interim, it said, the
NPTB shall exercise general oversight and also seek to achieve maximum
economics and financial benefit of all procurement of petroleum products for
The statement said under the
terms of reference, the NPTB shall ensure at all times sustenance of equity and
balance in the import parity equivalent for all products produced in the oil
refinery relative to direct imports of finished petroleum products.
It shall manage the
implementation of the National Petroleum Pricing Formula to ensure optimal
price-cost re-alignment and effective cross-subsidisation of all critical
products without creating uncompetitive or distortions in the pricing trends
for the market.
"It shall provide the
mechanism for regular review of allowable ex-refinery prices and such other charges
as may be applicable under the pricing formula for the petroleum distribution
market."
The Board is to work with the
Energy Commission to ensure that the OMCs, which are
directly responsible for distribution of the products to the consuming public,
comply with the established pricing levels and display requirements at all
times.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 26 March 2003-
Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom,
Minister for Economic Planning and Regional Integration on Tuesday challenged
anyone, who disagreed with the current rate of inflation pegged at 16 per cent
to come out with their analysis.
"Those who say the rate is
29 per cent or more should come out to tell government how they arrived at
those figures and give their analysis. "They
should indicate how they interpret their analysis because even when you take
the basket of goods to determine it, there is no way the rate could
double."
Dr Nduom was responding to a
question on the ECOWAS convergence criteria, which endorses a single digit of
inflation for the adoption of a common currency in the Sub-Region, at the
on-going All African Public Relations Conference.
He said though the 16 per cent
rate was not the official rate given by the Statistical Service Department
which was responsible for the calculation, there was no way the figure which
stood about 13 per cent in December 2002 could doubled to 29 per cent in
February this year.
He said at present the
government was working to come out with the actual rate of inflation, which would
not exceed the 16 per cent. Dr Nduom said a major consequence about the
misinformation on the real rate of inflation had been that some financial
institutions were raising their lending rates, which was bad for the economy.
Meanwhile, in an interview he
granted Journalists in
Osafo-Maafo said this after a
ceremony he performed in
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In line with this, the BOG has
started issuing universal banking licences to banks, which meet the new minimum
capital requirement of 70 billion cedis. The universal banking licence is
expected to eliminate what the Deputy Governor described as
"compartmentalisation" of the banks into commercial, development and
merchant banks.
It would rather entitle a holder
to engage in all manner of banking businesses and create a level playing field
for all the banks. Asiedu-Mante, who was speaking at
the launch of the Ghana Commercial Bank's (GCB) 50th Anniversary in Accra, said
the issuance of the licence in addition to other measures targeted at the banks
were in support of the national overall inflation objective.
Asiedu-Mante did not give figures and names
but said a few of the banks had qualified adding, "this should hopefully
engender fresh competition for retail deposits and thereby increase financial
deepening."
The varying implications of the
use of the licence to the banks include the need for additional capital infusion
from shareholders to meet the minimum requirement. Asiedu-Mante
said the BOG expected the banks to play roles as major planks in the
transmission channel of its monetary policies.
He said; "in particular, we
will expect banks to deepen financial intermediation by intensifying deposit
mobilisation and the deployment into viable ventures to support economic
growth.
The Deputy Governor reiterated
that the Central Bank was concerned about certain aspects of the operations of
the banks, which included high tariffs and charges on transactions and high
minimum deposit requirements.
"These practices impede
effective financial intermediation and keep a lot of financial transactions
outside the banking system, which in turn blunt the effectiveness of monetary
policy tools," Asiedu-Mante said.
He said the BOG had, therefore,
directed commercial banks to consider reducing the high tariffs and charges and
the minimum deposits. He said the Central Bank was working hand in hand with
the security agencies to clamp down on perpetrators of the circulation of
counterfeit cedi and dollar notes.
"Counterfeiting is an
economic crime that undermines the integrity of a country's monetary
system," he said, and cautioned offenders to put a stop to the act. He
also urged the commercial banks to co-operate fully with the Central Bank to
stamp out criminal activities.
Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of
Finance, said GCB had been supportive of national development for all of its 50
years of existence and, therefore, needed to be put in its rightful place in
the nation's history.
He said in the past few months
when no local bank was prepared to help the government in the importation of
crude oil, the GCB opened letters of credit for the product at a cost to its
operations.
The Minister observed that the
celebration of the 50th Anniversary coincided with the government's declaration
of the Golden Age of Business and urged GCB and other local banks to review
their operations to meet the challenges it posed.
"This
challenges include developing young entrepreneurs, growing new businesses
and creating new jobs through appropriate credit delivery mechanisms,"
Osafo-Maafo said.
Mrs Matilda Obeng
Ansong, Managing Director of GCB, said successive managements
of the bank had kept faith with the vision of the founders and this had enabled
it to move from public to a private entity having almost 80,000 shareholders at
present.
She said the bank would continue
to pursue the vision of the founders in its journey to help develop the
country. The GCB was established in 1953 as the Bank of the Gold Coast to
provide the financial needs of the indigenous people because the main banks in
the then Gold Coast functioned as import and export banks for merchants.
The bank now has 130 branches
spread over the country. The theme for the celebration is: "50 years of
Indigenous Initiative in Banking: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects."
As part of the launching ceremony, Mr K. G. Osei-Bonsu,
Board Chairman, and Osafo-Maafo unveiled and hoisted an anniversary logo and a flag,
respectively.
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A statement from the Ministry of
Finance, said this was made known in a note delivered by Eui-Min
Chung the South Korean Ambassador to
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Kumasi (Ashanti Region) 26 March
2003- Nana Asante Frimpong, Member of Parliament for Kwabre, on Monday added his voice to the call for the
broadening of the tax net to cover the informal sector to enable government to
collect more money to facilitate development.
He said it was not healthy for
the country to continue to depend on donor inflows to service the budget while the
informal sector contributed absolutely nothing by way of payment of taxes to
the government.
Nana Asante
Frimpong was speaking at the opening of a five-day workshop for snail farmers
from 12 communities in the Ashanti Region. The workshop is organised by the
Centre for the Development of People (CEDEP) in collaboration with the
Department for International Development (DFID).
Nana Asante
Frimpong said taxes from the informal sector could help resource the government
to undertake major projects without necessarily depending on donor agencies.
He also urged Ghanaians to
cultivate the habit of going into the informal sector through the establishment
of small enterprises to help strengthen the private sector and the economic
base of the country.
The MP commended CEDEP for
taking the initiative to facilitate and build the capacity of the marginalized
and vulnerable groups in society and also influencing policies in pursuit of
sustainable human development.
Mrs Yaa
Peprah Amekudzi, Executive
Director of CEDEP, said it was expected that with the about 300,000 people being
trained by the centre, the private sector development would be enhanced.
She therefore hoped that the
participants would benefit greatly from the workshop by implementing what they
would learn so that they would be able to penetrate the world market with
snails.
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Sunyani (Brong Ahafo)
They said in random interviews
with the GNA that the measure, if carried out, would not only swell the number
of unemployed persons but would also deny the government revenue.
''We pay all taxes we are
supposed to honour and it is our plea that the government helps us to
streamline our operations so that those of us who operate clandestinely can be
weeded out or made to properly register so that the country can benefit.''
On their use of numbers drawn by
the Department of National Lotteries (DNL) in their operations, the private
operators maintained that: "We give a boost to employment and an increase
in the national revenue."
Joseph Ankomah, Managing
Director of Super A1 Lotto Company a private lotto company with headquarters in
Sunyani, said "if the government allows us to use
the DNL numbers it will help to reduce unemployment and will significantly
increase government revenue."
Ankomah said the government
could negotiate with the private operators as a recognized body to pay a fixed
amount monthly through the VAT Secretariat. He said in spite of the existence
of PNDCL 223, which allowed private lotto operators to use DNL numbers, the task
force of the National Lotto Writers Association had been harassing agents of
lotto companies.
''There is no justification for
these arrests as the agents are often sent to court and fined, even though
their companies are engaged in genuine operations.'' Ankomah appealed to the
government to clarify its position on the PNDCL 223 as to whether it had been
amended or scrapped.
''The activities of the task
force give room for extortion because the security agents they engage to assist
in their operations also collect the sales made by the agents at the time of
arrest,'' he said.
Nana Kwaku,
Brong Ahafo Regional Manager of Super O6 Lotto Company, commended the
government for its intervention to inject sanity into the Lottery Industry.
He reiterated the suggestion
that the authorities sit down with genuine operators to negotiate for a fixed
amount for each operator to pay either annually or monthly as a condition for
an operating licence.
An official of Asare Original Pay All office in Sunyani who pleaded anonymity
expressed the hope that the government would come out with workable measures to
make the lottery industry more viable.
''The present system of private
lottery operation is all right but it should be streamlined to ensure that the
required revenue is derived for the national income,'' he said.
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"
Dr Apraku
was speaking when an 18-member delegation of the Black Chamber of Commerce of
the
The tour brokered by
He said Ghanaians were peace
loving, warm and hard working and were adaptable and capable of producing attractive
and marketable goods. Dr Apraku said
He said President John Agyekum
Kufuor had worked hard to establish and improve the economic environment by undertaking
several Presidential Initiatives. He had improved the relationship between
Dr Apraku
said the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) offered the best opportunity
for Ghanaian manufactured goods to find their way into the
Alford said the aim of the
Chamber was to have intense and productive relations with
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Tema (Greater Accra)
Ben Owusu-Mensah,
Director-General of GPHA, said at the signing ceremony at the weekend that the
agreement would foster co-operation between the two countries in the fields of
port management, operations and administration.
The agreement, which was also
signed by Sinabonga Gama,
Chief Executive Officer of NPASA, will boost regional trade and coastal
shipping, as the parties have also pledged to facilitate interaction between
the major exporters in
Owusu-Mensah said the agreement
stipulated that the authorities would support each other in strengthening port
safety and security services, providing technical knowledge in the fields of
port management and information systems technology and training staff at
maritime or other institutions of higher learning of both countries.
The agreement includes the
exchange of port experts between the two countries, undertaking of studies of mutual
interest, putting forward similar view points at international and regional
conferences as well as the development of strong social and cultural ties.
The two Chief Executives agreed
that a management consultative meeting comprising members from each authority
would be held at least once annually and the staff exchange programme would
involve all departments. They would assist each other upon request and within
each authority's financial means.
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Currency Buying Selling
U.S. Dollar 8,479.09 cedis
8,654.64 cedis
Pound
Swiss Franc 6,153.49 6,278.55
Canadian Dollar 5,742.50 5,859.23
Danish Kroner 1,221.19 1,245.94
Japanese Yen 70.86 72.31
South African
Euro 9,070.04 9,256.99
CFA Franc 13.83 14.11
Naira 67.62
69.02
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