Business Archives - Page 377 of 390

20 Jun

Government Withdraws Tax Exemptions Bill From Parliament

wontumionlineBusiness

Government has withdrawn the Tax Exemptions Bill from Parliament. Even though no official reason was given on the floor for the withdrawal, Citi Business News sources indicate that the withdrawal is to make way for corrections and amendments to the bill. The Tax Exemptions bill, when approved, is expected to harmonise the tax exemption and incentives regime in the country and help make it more efficient. It will comprise tax waivers given to local and foreign companies to encourage increased investment and more foreign direct investment in the economy. Since 2017, government has made several attempts to pass the Tax Exemption bill…

17 Jun

Ivory Coast Is Set To Receive $26.1 Billion Worth Of Development Finance From 4 Lenders, The EU And France

wontumionlineBusiness

On Wednesday June 15 2022, Ivorian leaders met with some investors, lenders and development partners in Abidjan as they sought to raise funds in support of Ivory Coast’s recently launched 5-year development plan. According to Reuters, the meeting was a huge success, as the investors and partners pledged up to $26.1 billion. Specifically, the World Bank pledged the highest amount of $8.7 billion, followed by the European Union with €6 billion and the African Development Bank (AfDB) with $4.3 billion. Others are France with €4 billion, the Islamic Development Bank with $2 billion and the West Africa Development Bank with…

17 Jun

GOIL’s Profit After Tax Rises By 9% To Hit GH¢ 98.7 Million In 2021

wontumionlineBusiness

Leading Oil Marketing Company GOIL has recorded significant growth in key areas of the company’s operations such as its profit after tax, total assets and volume of fuel sold in 2021. This was revealed at GOIL’s 53rd Annual General Meeting held in Accra. The 53rd Annual General Meeting of GOIL which was held on the 15th of June, 2022, saw shareholders vote on and approve 5 resolutions including, the declaration of a dividend for the year ended December 31, 2021, the election of Directors retiring by rotation, the fixing of Directors’ remuneration, the receipt and consideration of the reports of the…

17 Jun

Gulf Central Banks, Bank Of England Raise Policy Rates After Fed Hike

wontumionlineBusiness

The central banks of five Persian Gulf states raised policy rates on June 15 following the Federal Reserve’s 75 basis point hike the same day. The central banks of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain made 75bp increases to their reference rates. This brings the UAE’s rate to 3%, Qatar’s to 2.25% and Bahrain’s to 2.5%. Four of the five peg their currencies to the US dollar, and their policy decisions tend to shadow those of the Federal Open Market Committee. The Bank of England also raised its policy rate by 25 basis points today (June 16), opting not…

15 Jun

ECB Meets To Tackle Rout In Bond Market Amid Echoes Of Debt Crisis

wontumionlineBusiness

European Central Bank's policymakers were holding a rare, unscheduled meeting on Wednesday to discuss a blowout in borrowing costs for some eurozone nations, fanning speculation the bank may be gearing to act to calm markets. Yields of bonds issued by Italy and other debt-laden nations have risen sharply since the ECB flagged a series of rate hikes last Thursday and wound down a debt-buying programme in the face of soaring inflation. Facing the threat of a repeat of the debt crisis that almost brought down the single currency a decade ago, ECB's policy-setting Governing Council was meeting to discuss how…

15 Jun

Remove Some Petroleum Taxes And Levies To Avoid Hiking Inflation Rate

wontumionlineBusiness

In the last 5 months, the Central Bank has constantly increased interest rate from 14.5% to 19% as means of managing high inflation rate. The May 2022 rate (19%) was the second consecutive rate increase this year, raising borrowing costs to their highest level since February 2018. It can be recalled that, Government Statistician, Professor Kobina Annim, recently announced an inflation rate of 27.6% (May 2022) which is the country highest in 18 years. Ghana had 23.9% inflation in April 2022, which was higher than the inflation rates in some African countries, including Nigeria (16.82%), Senegal (7%), Kenya (6.47%), Uganda…

15 Jun

Petrol, Diesel To Go Up From June 16 – BDCs

wontumionlineBusiness

Consumers of petroleum products must brace themselves for another increase in fuel prices from Thursday, June 16, 2022. Data from the Bulk Oil Distribution Companies as reported by JoyBusiness suggests that the price of a litre of diesel is expected to go up by 11.14%, while petrol will go up 13%. In effect, the average price of fuel is likely to increase by about GH¢1.33 per litre. Petrol prices are projected to go up by GH¢1.24/Litre which is an 11.41% increase and that of Diesel by GH¢1.43 /Litre also a 12.93% increase. Petrol at various fuel pumps is currently selling…

15 Jun

Bono Farmers Gets Praised By Agric Minister For Switching To Organic Fertilizers

wontumionlineBusiness

Farmers in the Bono Region yesterday received gangantuan praises from the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto for strategically switching to organic fertilizer locally produced instead of striving to purchase the highly scarced and expensive international commodity of inorganic fertilizer which cannot be found. The minister was reacting to a data presented by the Bono Regional Director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Mr. Dennis Abugri Amenga, who made a presentation during a working visit to his region by the Agric Minister, his deputy and various portfolio directors of the ministry to familiarise with the successes…

15 Jun

Agric Minister Charges Banks To Support Farmers

wontumionlineBusiness

The Ministry for Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has charged commercial banks in the country to contribute meaningfully to agriculture by making available credit facilities to farmers. According to the sector Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, it was worrying that commercial banks were reluctant in supporting farmers. “Ideally the banks are supposed to provide you (the farmers) with credit facilities to enable you expand production. But that has not been the case.” …To the extent that the President even held a meeting involving the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, myself and all the Managing Directors of the banks in the country…

08 Jun

Ticket Prices To Rise Following B.A Schedule Change On Accra-London-Accra Route

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Stakeholders in the aviation sector are warning of a hike in ticket prices for passengers using British Airways on the Accra-London-Accra route following the reduction in the number of days that the airline flies to and from Ghana. The airline as a result of several factors including a shortage of staff has decided to cut down the number of flights on its Accra-London-Accra route from 7 days per week to 5 days per week. The decision by British Airways has led to a jump in ticket prices by as much as 80 % for summer travellers. Checks by Citi Business…