BoG Archives - Page 17 of 22

27 Feb

T-bills a=Auction: Government Gets ¢5.06bn; Sale Oversubscribed By 75%

wontumionlineBusiness182-day, 364-day, 91-day, BoG, T-Bills

Government Treasury bills sale were oversubscribed by 75% to the tune of ¢5.06 billion. According to the auction result published by the Bank of Ghana, participation of the 91-day T-bill was almost to the tune of ¢3 billion. Indeed, the 91-day and the 364-day bills recorded immense investor participation. Whilst the 3-months received bids of about ¢2.93 billion, that of the one-year bill got bids worth about ¢1.46 billion. All the bids were, however, accepted by the government. For the 182-day bill, all the bids of about ¢665 million were accepted. Meanwhile, interest rates retreated further for the third week…

22 Feb

Number Of Advertised Jobs In 2022 Falls To 32,651 – BoG

wontumionlineBusinessAdvertised Jobs, BoG, Online, print

The total number of advertised jobs in selected print and online media in 2022, which partially gauges labour demand in the economy, fell by 5.3% to 32,651, the Bank of Ghana has revealed. This is against 34,484 recorded during 2021. But the number of jobs advertised increased in December 2022 relative to a year ago. According to the Bank of Ghana, 3,277 job adverts were recorded as compared with 2,588 for the same period in 2021, an increase of 26.6% year-on-year. On a month-on-month basis, the number of job vacancies in December 2022 went up by 17.9% from the 2,779…

22 Feb

Cedi Lost 3.14% Value To Dollar Last Week; Near-Term Outlook Uncertain

wontumionlineBusinessBoG, CEDI, dollar

The Ghana cedi lost about 3.14% value to the US dollar last week as the renewed depreciatory pressures set in. It started the week at about ¢12.50 to the American greenback, but ended the week at about ¢12.70. The local currency also declined by 1.97% to the pound and 1.49% to the euro respectively in the retail market. Although the Bank of Ghana continued to intervene in the market, it could only sell $5 million on the spot market. This did not ease the demand pressures. In the forward market, the regulator received and allocated $30 million at a 30-day…

21 Feb

Banks Wrote-Off ¢5.9Bn As Bad Debt In 2022

wontumionlineBusinessBad debt, Banks, BoG, NPLs

Banks operating in Ghana wrote-off about ¢5.9 billion as bad debt in December 2022. According to the Domestic Money Banks Income Statement, this is about 184.2% increase over the previous year. The total provision made were classified as loan losses, depreciation, and others. Though the Bank of Ghana did not give reasons behind this bad debt, it is believed that a difficult economic environment that triggered a high cost of borrowing may be the main reason. According to the Bank of Ghana, the industry’s Non-Performing Loan stock increased from ¢8.2 billion in December 2021 to ¢10.4 billion in December 2022.…

21 Feb

Bonds Constituted 76.4% Of Banks Investments In 2022

wontumionlineBusinessBoG, Bonds, Domestic Debt Exchange Programme, T-Bills

Securities or long-term debt instruments or bonds were the largest components of banks’ investment portfolios in 2022. This is despite the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme. According to the Bank of Ghana, its share increased to 76.4% in December 2022 from 75.3% in December 2021. The share of short-term bills or Treasury bills in total investments, however, declined to 23.3%, from 24.4% over the same comparative period. Also, the share of equity investments remained negligible at 0.3%. Banks investments contracted by 4.8% in 2022 Meanwhile, banks investments contracted by 4.8% to ¢79.2 billion in December 2022 from a growth of 29%…

20 Feb

Cedi Losses Some Stability; $1 Equals ¢12.90

wontumionlineBusinessBoG, CEDI, DDEP, dollar

The recent gains by the Ghana cedi has come to a halt as the local currency lost some stability to the US dollar today February 20, 2023. At the forex bureaus today, the cedi was going for ¢12.90 to one American ‘greenback’. The same story could also be told about the pound and the euro, as the cedi was being sold for ¢15.20 and ¢13.60 respectively. However, the Bank of Ghana is quoting a dollar at ¢10.80 on the interbank market. On Friday, February 17, 2023, the cedi traded at ¢12.75 to one American currency. Prior to that, the cedi…

20 Feb

Inflation Likely To Peak In Quarter 1, 2023 – BoG Affirms Position

wontumionlineBusinessBoG, Inflation, January 2023 Monetary Policy Report

The Bank of Ghana has reiterated that inflation is likely to peak in the first quarter of 2023 and gradually ease thereafter. However, headline inflation is projected to remain above the upper band of 8±2 percent until the second half of 2025. In its January 2023 Monetary Policy Report, the Central Bank said its decision to keep the policy rate high was due to the significant upside risks to the inflation outlook. On the domestic front, the report said the continuous monetary policy tightening and the relative stability in the exchange rate in December 2022 led to some moderation in…

16 Feb

Central Banking In Crisis: How BoG Steadied Economic Ship To Calm Waters

wontumionlineBusinessBoG, Dr. Ernest Addison

FOR those old enough to remember Ghana’s economic crisis of 1982/3, the country’s closest to those ugly times came last year. In 2022 when revenue growth flattened and the borrowing window shut, what many expected was an economy without money, where salary payments will delay, imports, including fuel will shrink, businesses and consumers will face shortages, the country will default in its debt repayment and an economic chaos will set in similar to what occurred some four decades ago. But that did not happen. Public sector workers continued to receive their salaries, there was no default while goods and services…

14 Feb

Cedi Continues Rise Against Dollar; Gained 0.81% Last Week

wontumionlineBusinessBoG, CEDI, dollar, imf

The Ghana cedi continued to rise steadily against the US dollar amidst the Bank of Ghana’s tight foreign exchange intervention. Last week, the local currency gained about 2.31% in value against the American ‘greenback’, although the Central Bank reduced its support to the market. The regulator sold only $5 million on the spot market, while withholding its bi-weekly FX auctions. The cedi closed on Friday, February 10, 2023, at an indicative rate of ¢10.80 to one US dollar on the interbank market. It gained 0.81% to the dollar to close at a mid-rate of ¢12.35/US$ on the retail market. It…

13 Feb

BoG Must Be Blamed For High Inflation – Professor Williams Peprah

wontumionlineBusinessAndrews University, BoG, Inflation, Professor Williams Peprah

US-based Associate Professor of Finance at Andrews University in Michigan USA, Williams Kwasi Peprah, has accused the Bank of Ghana for high inflation in the country. The Bank of Ghana has justified financing of the government’s 2022 budget with about ¢44.5 billion. In a statement, the Central Bank said its financing of government was part of a crises management tool used in dealing with the difficulties of 2022. “It must be recognised that the ongoing debt operations are part of the corrective measures designed to address the financing problem of the budget. Bank of Ghana financing was part of a…