Kofi Ahovi

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has indicated that it is premature to comment on the final form the financing programme for Ghana will take. In its latest Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), it said the IMF Executive Board will decide the level of access (credit amount) and the final programme design. The previous arrangement with Ghana was a three-year Extended Credit Facility (ECF) in 2015-2018, which was extended to April 2019. However, since negotiations are ongoing, it is premature to comment on the final form the latest financing program will take”. It further reiterated that the goal of the government’s economic programme, which would be supported by IMF financing, is to restore macroeconomic stability and ensure debt sustainability, support the credibility of government policies, restore confidence in the central bank’s ability to manage inflation and rebuild foreign exchange reserve buffers to make the economy more resilient to shocks. Specifically, in the fiscal sector, a...

 Seven African countries have started trading goods and services under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The countries are Ghana, Cameroun, Kenya, Egypt, Mauritius, Rwanda and Tanzania which are trading in products such as ceramics, palm oil, car batteries and coffee. The National Coordinator (Ghana) at the AfCFTA Coordination Office, Dr Fareed Kwasi Arthur, made this known to the Daily Graphic at the launch of the 74th University of Ghana Annual New Year School and Conference (ANYSC) in Accra yesterday. The New Year School is the initiative of the School of Continuing and Distance Education (SCDE) of the University of Ghana (UG). This year’s edition will be on the theme: “Positioning the African market for sustainable economic development through AfCFTA”. The three-day event, which will begin from January 17 to 19 next year, will bring together experts and academia to discuss topical national issues. Growth options Dr Arthur said the theme for this year’s event cap...

Some Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in the country have started reducing prices of fuel at the pumps from today [30 th  November, 2022].  One of the Market leaders, GOIL has dropped the price for Diesel to ₵19.77, while Petrol is selling at ₵16.26. This is the second time for the month of November that prices of petroleum products have been reduced. The Chamber of the Bulk Oil distributors has linked the reductions to improved supply of dollars from the Bank of Ghana and moves by the regulator to improve the liquidity of commercial banks.  This has help improved lending to importers of petroleum products.   IES predicts fuel price drop Earlier, the Institute for Energy Security projected that prices of petrol and diesel go down between 10% and 8% from Thursday, December 1, 2022. The IES said the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), is however expected to remain stable on account of the cedi’s depreciation.  Prices of the various finished products will be...

  Accounting and auditing firm, KPMG wants government to adopt a consultative approach to ensure that the concerns of individuals, households and businesses are well addressed before measures captured in the 2023 Budget are implemented. The 2023 Budget is hinged on seven-point agenda. They include aggressively mobilising domestic revenue through various tax reforms, streamlining and rationalising expenditures, boosting local productive capacity and promoting and diversifying exports. In its 2023 Budget Highlights led by Senior Partner, Anthony Sarpong, KPMG, said with the current high levels of debt and recent downgrades in credit ratings, enhancing domestic revenue mobilisation remains a top priority for government. Consequently, government has proposed a number of revenue measures including: introducing an additional PAYE tax band of 35%, increasing VAT by 2.5%, introducing a minimum chargeable income tax, broadening the scope of the National Fiscal Stabilisation Levy (NSFL) to i...

  Moody’s has downgraded the Government of Ghana’s long-term issuer ratings to Ca from Caa2 or further junk status and changed the outlook to stable. This concludes the review for downgrade that was initiated on September 30, 2022. The Ca rating reflects Moody’s expectation that private creditors will likely incur substantial losses in the restructuring of both local and foreign currencies debts planned by the government as part of its 2023 budget proposed to Parliament on 24 November 2022″, a statement published on its website said.. The statement pointed out that “given Ghana’s high government debt burden and the debt structure, it is likely there will be substantial losses on both categories of debt in order for the government to meaningfully improve debt sustainability”. It explained further that the stable outlook balances Moody’s assumption that the debt restructuring will happen in coordination with creditors and under the umbrella of a funding program with the IMF against t...

  The banking sector recorded a profit-after-tax of ¢4.4 billion for the first ten months of 2022. This represents an increase of 17.2%, compared with 10.0% growth during the same period last year. According to the Bank of Ghana, the banking sector recorded strong asset growth and improved profitability over the review period, but there are strong signs of emerging spillover effects from the recent macroeconomic challenges. Net interest income grew by 22.7% to GH¢12.8 billion, higher than the 15.2% growth. Net fees and commissions also grew by 25.4% to GH¢2.9 billion, compared with 22.9% growth over the same comparative period. Operating income accordingly rose by 27%, higher than the corresponding growth of 14.3% in 2021. The industry’s operating expenses increased by 28.1% in October 2022, compared with 11.0% for same period in 2021, on the back of the current challenging operating environment. Loan loss provisions also went up significantly, reflecting the pickup in credit growt...

  The National Communications Authority (NCA) has successfully registered 42.7 million Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards of mobile network operators (MNOs) in the country. They are the SIM cards that have gone through the two-stage registration process of linking them to the Ghana Card and also capturing the biometric data of their owners to match the cards. This leaves about nine million SIM cards to be deactivated across the country tomorrow, if their owners do not complete the registration process. The Accra High Court last Thursday dismissed a case which sought to stop the NCA from deactivating the SIM cards of people who fail to register them. In its judgement, the court, presided over by Justice Charles Ekow Baiden, held that the NCA had acted legally and in accordance with the laws that governed its operations. Deactivation Out of the number, it is estimated that about 3.8 million of the subscribers belong to the biggest mobile telecommunication company in the cou...

  Accounting, auditing and professional services firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (Ghana) LTD, has said that the message in the 2023 Budget is timely and consistent with the challenges facing the economy. It said the decision to use the budget to signal an aggressive effort to grow revenue and reduce expenditures was appropriate and necessary to help reduce the fiscal deficit and contain the pace at which prices of goods and services increase. The firm, however, said some of the policy proposals lacked sufficient detail and thus called for additional information to enable businesses and consumers to plan effectively. The Country Senior Partner of PwC Ghana, Vish Ashiagbor said in an interview today, Tuesday that while the proposal to cut spending by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) was good, it was not clear how much would be realised from the exercise.   Ashiagbor noted that the debt exchange programme proposed in the budget also lacked sufficient clarity, resulting in...

  The government and CalBank are close to sealing a $25 million deal to finance small-scale mining operations in the country. The deal is part of arrangements being made by the government with financial institutions to bolster small-scale mining activities, including community mining. The Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources responsible for Mines, George Mireku Duker, who disclosed this, explained that the move would help eliminate the practice where some small-scale miners, as a result of financial challenges, sell their concessions to foreigners sometimes for a pittance. He was speaking at a sensitisation workshop on regularisation of small-scale mining organised by the ministry for media editors in Accra yesterday. Community schemes Duker said 16 community mining schemes had been established which were mining on a total land area of 2299.94 acres. Additionally, he said, 85 district mining committees had been inaugurated in the Western, Western North, Ashanti, Eastern, ...

  A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expected in the country next week to continue negotiations with the government towards closing a support programmed to the economy. The team, which will be led by the IMF Mission Chief to Ghana, Stéphane Roudet, will be in the country from December 1 to 13, 2022. The fund said in a statement released Wednesday that the team will continue discussions with the authorities on the country’s post-COVID programme for economic growth and associated policies and reforms that could be supported by a new IMF lending arrangement. IMF staff will also further engage with other stakeholders during the visit," the fund. Ghana requested a fund-assisted programmed in July after the cedi came under intense pressure and inflation soared to record highs. As of October this year, inflation was reported at 40.4 per cent and the cedi had lost more that 54 epr cent of its value to the US dollar. A debt restructuring exercise is currently ongoing to b...

The Development Bank Ghana (DBG) has partnered Access Bank to provide support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country. The partnership will see DBG led money to Access Bank for on-lending to SMEs as long-term loans. The Managing Director of Access Bank Ghana PLC, Olumide Olatunji, commenting on the partnership said the bank was committed to adding value to the economy and one of the ways it measures its contribution was through the amount of credit it deploys into the market, particularly to SMEs. He said this was because Access Bank considered SMEs as a very strategic pillar to the growth of the economy as they contributed over 70 per cent to GDP as well as create over 80 per cent of employment opportunities. He noted that over the years, the bank had been actively engaged in the SME space, creating relevant products to support their growth. In the last two years, he said the bank had impacted over 6500 SMEs with over GH₵50 million in loan support and through technical ...

MTN Ghana has rewarded sixty (60) customers with an All- Expense -Paid trip to Qatar to watch the group stage matches of the Black Stars. In addition to the trip to Qatar, Customers can participate in other promotions currently running on Ayoba, MyMTN app and MTN Pulse. The ‘Predict and Win’ promo on Ayoba allows Customers the opportunity to predict the scores of ten selected games in the World Cup. To participate in the competition, customers  are required  to: Download the Ayoba app from Google Play store. Access the Black Stars channel and do their predictions. The first ten (10) accurate predictions per each game will receive prizes Including a Smartphone, Airtime, and other consolation prizes. Again, Customers can also engage in a Football trivia on the MyMTN app for the entire duration of the tournament and win any of the prizes at stake. Furthermore, Customers who purchase data bundles on MTN J4U will also win prizes. Noel Kojo- Ganson, Chief Commercial Officer at MTN s...

 The Chamber of Mines has urged the government to ensure due diligence before any trade of gold for oil agreements ahead of its implementation in 2023. This comes against the backdrop of Vice President, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia announcing government’s policy to negotiate a gold-for-oil barter deal to address the country’s “dwindling foreign exchange reserves” and the rising prices of petroleum products. The Deputy Energy Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam said government expects to finalise arrangements and implement the arrangement to ease the high cost of petroleum products in the country as early as March next year. But Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber of Mines, Dr. Sulemana Koney said government must tread cautiously in such a programme. According to him, even though the government knows about the Domestic Gold Purchase, they need to know the counterparts who are interested in exchanging gold for oil. We know we are in a difficult situation but we need to hasten slowly and make ...

  Government will seek to raise ¢1.85 billion to refinance the upcoming Treasury bill maturities of ¢1.619 billion. Demand is expected to go up as government claims Treasury bills would not be affected by any debt restructuring exercise. In the 2023 fiscal budget, the government reiterated its preference for concessional financing and proposed to impose a cap on non-concessional financing. The government aims to place a moratorium on new financing in 2023, where non-concessional financing will only be considered for critical transformative projects. This will help slow down government borrowing. In the just-ended treasury auction, the government accepted ¢2.39 billion out of total bids of ¢2.39 billion. The sale exceeded the target for the second successive week. The government accepted bids at weighted average yields of 35.54% for the 91-day bill, 36.38% for the 182- day bill and 35.90% for the 364-day bill. Trading activity improve 48.98% on bond market Trading activity improved ...

  Prices of petrol and diesel are expected to go down between 10% and 8% from Thursday, December 1, 2022, the Institute for Energy Security has projected. The price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), however, is expected to remain stable on account of the cedi’s depreciation. This will be the second consecutive period that prices of petrol and diesel will be going down. Prices of the various finished products will be affected by the 13.45% fall in the price of gasoline [petrol], the 11.63% fall in the price of gasoil [diesel], and the 1.88% fall in the price of LPG. However, the 3.09% depreciation of the cedi against the US dollar is expected to erode portions of the gains from the reductions in international fuel prices. The price of LPG is however expected to remain stable on account of the cedi’s depreciation”. World Oil Market On the international market, Brent crude saw a 6.31% decrease in price over the previous window’s average price of $95.11 per barrel to the present averag...

  Government is aiming to begin talks with international investors ahead of a possible debt restructuring programme. The debt restructuring is expected to pave way for a programme from the International Monetary Fund. Singapore-based Redd Intelligence said at least four different advisory firms are working with the Ghanaian government on economic policy and debt management in the context of the sovereign’s talks with the IMF. It said though no mandates have yet been formalised, the firms are investment bank Lazard; law firm Hogan Lovells; sovereign advisory firm Global Sovereign Advisory and investment banking and advisory firm Lion’s Head Global Partners. Bloomberg also reported that US based Fidelity Institutional Asset Management, Goldman Sachs Group Inc and London based Pimco top the list of publicly-announced holdings of Ghana’s dollar-denominated bonds, which lost half of their value this year. Boston-based Fidelity holds $94.5 million of Ghana’s dollar bonds, followed by Gol...

  Of all the motley crew of ideas the government of Ghana has churned out in recent days and weeks to deal with the country’s  deteriorating public finances , none has caught fire like the decision to start buying oil with gold rather than dollars. Everyone from crypto-anarchists to  goldbugs  is doing cartwheels trying to chip in their two cents about how the move contributes to the long-awaited demise of the  petrodollar  system. The government of Ghana has professed two goals: Reduce the pressure on the local currency – the Ghanaian Cedi (GHS) – caused by large fuel importers’ perennial search for US dollars to bring in fuel from overseas. In the government’s new model, the country will buy locally produced gold in local currency and exchange the gold for fuel produced in the Gulf or elsewhere. By removing the dollar input into local pricing, it aims to offset the effects of the alarming depreciation of the Cedi on retail fuel prices, and thus moderate p...

  Majority of Ghanaians are overweight or obese, the Ghana Obesity Survey 2021 has found. The first ever most comprehensive survey on obesity and other lifestyle behaviours in the country found that 85 per cent of Ghanaians do not eat healthily, while more than 50 per cent are either obese or overweight. The study, conducted in the country’s three largest and most cosmopolitan metropolises — Accra, Kumasi and Tamale — also found the results not surprising, given the alarming evidence the study gathered on eating habits and physical inactivity. More than half of the population do not exercise at all, while almost 90 per cent of the people do not eat well, based on the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended level of fruits and vegetable consumption,” it indicated. Public health experts fear the results of the study are a testament to the upward trajectory which, if left unaddressed, will cause massive health risks for millions of Ghanaians. The full-scale obesity study, which wa...

  I am not a medical doctor and I don’t know if there is a condition known as national hypertension syndrome. If there isn’t, yours truly deserves the credit for being the first layman to diagnose this disorder. Its main manifestation is when the nation’s collective systolic pressure goes beyond the reading range. This is what happened in the last seven minutes of the Black Stars game against South Korea. It is one of those moments everyone will recall and narrate to their children and grandchildren for years to come. Everyone would have had their own way of coping with this extreme stress during which Ghana’s own orbital rotation came to a standstill. Watching the match at home, I must have gone into the kitchen twelve times, the bedroom fifteen times with a few bathroom breaks. Standing or sitting still was impossible. There is only one known cure for the aforementioned disease; it is the referee’s last whistle. In the end, the collective sigh of relief was probably heard in our ...

From January 2023, the Ghana government will exchange gold for oil. That is gold produced locally will be exchanged for a portion of the petroleum needs of Ghana. The "Gold 4 Oil" programme will enable the country to use part of the gold produced locally to purchase oil as part of measures the government is putting in place to secure regular and affordable petroleum products for the Ghanaian market. The move is expected to stabilise and help reduce the prices of petroleum products at the pump. The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, who disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, said the measure would also help ease the pressure on the local currency, the Ghana Cedi, with the possibility of strengthening it. In order to obtain the needed gold to support the programme, the Economic Management Team of the government had agreed with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to purchase, in Ghana cedis, at least 20 per cent of all gold produced in the country ...