Economy cannot
support growth rate envisaged in Vision 2020 –Abbey
Banks should offer value-added services
Stick index rises on strength of ALW, UNIL
gains
Economy cannot
support growth rate envisaged in Vision 2020 –Abbey
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 November
2000
The Executive Director of the
Centre for Policy and Economic Analysis (CEPA), Dr Joe Abbey said on Tuesday
that the Ghanaian economy cannot support the minimum GDP growth rate of at
least seven per cent a year as envisaged in the Vision 2020 document.
"The Ghanaian economy is
simply not big enough, by itself to assure such minimum GDP growth rate,"
he told the Institute of Bankers in Accra.
Dr Abbey delivered a paper on
"Foreign Exchange Management and Stability of the Cedi -The Role of the
Banking Industry," at the Institute's annual conference.
He said the structure of
production, consumption and the low level of technological advancement indicate
that Ghana would continue to import most of her raw materials, technological
know-how and educational materials to upgrade the technical and managerial
capabilities of its human resource needed to ensure a private sector led
growth.
To sustain these programmes,
however depends on the development of the requisite export earning capability,
especially in the non-traditional export sector, he said.
Dr Abbey said annual growth rates
of at least 15 per cent in earnings in the non-traditional export sector would
make the goals achievable and lay a firm basis for the attack on poverty.
He said inconsistency in
macro-economic policy has led to loss of international trade competitiveness
and growth in imports to the detriment of the domestic competing industries.
Dr Abbey advocated consistent macro
policies and appropriate regulatory framework to ensure sustainable growth
through productivity.
Such policies will improve risk
management and allow for gradual dismantling of capital controls and the
development of more resilient and competitive financial and corporate sectors.
On investment, Dr Abbey
underscored the need for a growth enhancing investment that would assure the
productive potential of the economy and create employment. He urged the banks
to be at the forefront of the mobilisation of savings and channelling of
investment resources.
Dr Abbey said while financial
savings from banks could be transferred to alternative uses, such as consumer
credit, industrial investment credit and public sector borrowing, the balance
of the use of these savings choices would determine the kind of society and
economy.
GRi…/
Banks should offer value-added services
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 November 2000
An Information Technology (IT) expert said on Tuesday that Ghanaian banks should make significant use of new trends in IT to entice their customers.
"Such investments in IT will help the banks meet the increasing demand of consumers to have easy access to their finances at all times," Mr Senthil Kumar of I-Flex Solution Limited, an Indian-based IT company said. He was speaking at the third launch of "Flexcube", banking computer software, in Accra.
"IT enables banks to reduce transaction costs," Mr Kumar said. "It also allows them to respond to competitive pricing pressure, build market share and retain customers."
He said a survey in the United States indicates that IT investment tops all other investments, taking 7.7 per cent.
In Ghana, seven out of the 16 registered banks are currently using the Flexcube platform to process financial transactions.
They include the SSB Bank, Ghana Commercial Bank, Merchant Bank and the Trust Bank.
GRi…/
Stick index rises on strength of ALW, UNIL
gains
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 November 2000
The GSE-All share index, the key stock gauge of the Accra bourse, rose by 7.26 points on Wednesday, pushed up by a 50-cedi gain each by Aluworks (ALW) and Unilever Ghana Limited (UNIL).
It closed up at 859.86 from 852.60 points on Monday, but the market remained offer-driven with offers outstripping demand by large margins.
Traded volumes appreciated, though insignificantly, from 7,300 to 25,500 on the strength of sales by six equities compared to two on Monday.
Offers leaped more than three times from 1.1 million on Monday to 4.5 million shares with Home Finance Company (HFC) alone offering 3.5 million shares. Bids went up, though marginally, at 34,900 shares compared with 28,400 on Monday.
Market capitalisation was also up marginally at 3,637.82 billion cedis from 3,624.24 billion on Monday.
On the broader market, there were two price changes. ALW and UNIL gained 50 cedis each to close at 4,150 and 1,600 cedis respectively.
The following are the last prices of listed equities in cedis:
ABL 630
AGC 18,600
ALW 4,150 +50
BAT 400
CFAO 50
EIC 2,400
FML 1,000
GBL 1,350
GCB 1,579
GGL 740
HFC 952
MGL 200
MLC 145
MOGL 18,600
PAF 270
PBC 503
PZ 400
SCB 21,500
SPPC 250
SSB 2,200
UNIL 1,600 +50
CMLT 425
GRi…/
Accra (Greater Accra) 23 November 2000
The following are the average inter bank exchange rates of the cedi equivalent to the dollar and derived rates for other major foreign currencies, released on Wednesday November 22, 2000, by the Ghana Association of Bankers:
Currency Buying Selling
US Dollar 6,694.82 6,907.09
Pound Sterling 9,505.31 9,810.14
French Franc 864.32 891.11
Swiss Franc 3,726.69 3,841.84
Deutsche Mark 2,897.69 3,841.84
Canadian Dollar 4,323.54 4,458.14
Japanese Yen 60.89 62.79
Dutch Guilder 2,572.76 2,652.54
S/African Rand 857.71 883.59
Euro 5,666.35 5,844.24
CFA Franc 8.64 8.91
Naira 67.21 69.35
Ecowas/WAUA 8,690.27 --------
GRi…/