Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta The hopes of members of the Ghana Insurance Association of being excluded from the Debt Exchange Programme will not materialise. This is because the Finance Ministry in a letter to the Association signed by the Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta categorically says an exemption is not an option for the group. The Association in December last year wrote to the Ministry demanding an exemption from the Programme. According to its president, Seth Kobla Aklasi, 40 percent of its total assets for the Quarter 3 of 2022 were invested in Government of Ghana Securities hence any attempt to give…
Author: herbert
Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o was found guilty on Wednesday of misappropriating 23 billion CFA francs (about Ksh. 4.8 billion) by over-billing, Pauline Amougou Koe said.His wife was also sentenced to 10 years for complicity in the embezzlement of public funds, and several properties belonging to the couple were seized, Amougou Koe said. A former defence minister in Cameroon has been handed a 30-year jail term for embezzling public funds, his lawyer said on Thursday. Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o was found guilty on Wednesday of misappropriating 23 billion CFA francs (about 35 million euros) by over-billing, Pauline Amougou Koe said. The…
Legal Practitioner, Martin Kpebu is calling out President Akufo-Addo on his inability to fulfill most of the promises he made to Ghanaians while campaigning for the presidency. Mr Kpebu believes it is disappointing that in spite of the president’s remarkable promises, it does not appear that he is actively working to honour them. The legal practitioner’s criticism is due to Ghana ranking 72nd in the 2022 edition of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) report issued on Tuesday, January 31. Further details indicated that the country scored 43 out of 100 per Transparency International (TI) score, which means that Ghana has not made…
Leading retail shopping centre, Melcom has reaffirmed its commitment to the Electronic Value Added Tax (E-VAT), saying, it has exhibited full compliance and cooperated with the Ghana Revenue Authority team in implementing the E-VAT. It has however advised the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to stop harassing its staff and the inconvenience to its loyal customers. In a response to the Commissioner General of the GRA, Dr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, after the authority arrested managers of Melcom for alleged non-compliance with the E-VAT invoice, the company expressed worry about victimisation. The retailer centre said it has been fully compliant and cooperative with…
Ghanaian duo, Kamadeen Sulemana and Antoine Semenyo, made their Premier League debuts on Saturday, February 4, after completing winter transfer moves. Kamaldeen joined Southampton from Stade Rennes on transfer deadline day for a club-record fee while Semenyo signed for Bournemouth from Bristol City. Kamaldeen was a second-half substitute in the Saints’ 0-3 loss to Brentford away from home as they continued their fight for Premier League survival. The winger looked lively after coming on for the second period of the game and brought spark to the Southampton attack though he could do very little to change the scoreline. Semenyo also…
Former Chief Executive Officer of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA), Dr. Daniel Seddoh, says the argument that government would not be able to meet its financial obligations without a debt exchange does not hold water. According to him, the argument is flawed on the basis that citizens continue to pay taxes to government and economic activity is constantly being generated, thus government would consequently be able to generate revenue. “We should be careful raising that argument except you’re saying that we’ve stopped paying taxes, except you’re saying we’ve stopped generating economic activity,” he said on JoyNews’ PM Express Business…
Economist, Prof. Lord Mensah has urged government to use the Mid-Year Review of Estimates (Budget Review) in July this year to announce major expenditure cuts. According to him, expenditure cuts in the budget will send a positive signal to investors and help put Ghana’s economy on a recovery path. Prof. Mensah spoke on PM Express Business Edition with host, George Wiafe on February 2, 2023. “If the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) is implemented well it may rather aid in the quick recovery of the economy. But this must be accompanied with the necessary expenditure cuts”, he stressed. Professor Mensah…
Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari, 1st Deputy Governor of Bank of Ghana The Bank of Ghana has defended the daily publication of foreign exchange rates, which puts the rates lower than what is sold in the retail or forex market. According to the Central Bank, the rates are weighted average of transaction rates collected and collated from the commercial banks offered to customers. Some individuals have criticised the Central Bank for the publication of foreign exchange rates which does not reflect the current retail market rates. But answering questions at the Public Accounts Committee meeting, First Deputy Governor, Dr. Maxwell Opoku Afari…
Some officials of some notable shopping centres in the Greater Accra region have been grabbed by officers of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for issuing fake Value Added Tax (VAT) invoices. The shops include China Mall, Sneda Shopping Centre, Palace Mall and Second Cup Coffee all on the Spintex Road, as well as Shoprite at the Junction Mall in Nungua. The exercise was undertaken by a joint team from the GRA, and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service. The exercises is part of moves by the GRA to boost revenue mobilisation through enforcing the tax laws.…
Profit in the banking industry declined by 18.9% in 2022, driven by the mark-to-market losses on investments, higher impairments on loans, and rising operating costs. This is compared to 12.3% annual growth recorded in 2021 According to the Bank of Ghana, the banks profit-after-tax was ¢3.9 billion at the end of December 2022. But Net interest income grew by 23.0% to ¢15.8 billion, higher than the growth of 14.5% in 2021. Net fees and commissions also went up by 27.4% to ¢3.7 billion, from the growth of 24.8% recorded in 2021. Accordingly, operating income increased by 30.9%, compared with 14.6%…
