BoG holds rate as fiscal deficit narrows, reserves reach US$12bn    

 The Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee is weighing whether to maintain its 14 percent policy rate as rising inflation, pressure on international reserves and a sharp increase in global oil prices complicate the outlook for monetary policy.

The Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) is exploring investments and strategic partnerships across the domestic mining supply chain. Steel manufacturer B5 Plus is an identified potential partner as the Fund seeks to increase local participation and retain more value from mineral production.

Economist and legal practitioner Appiah Kusi Adomako has called on government to test the US$235million desalination penalty award for legal grounds to mount a challenge, while negotiating a settlement that contains the state’s exposure and restores water supply to Teshie and surrounding communities.

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has launched a National VAT Awareness and Compliance Campaign to tackle persistent gaps in value added tax (VAT) compliance, while introducing measures aimed at making registration, filing and payment easier for taxpayers.

Vegetable farmers in the Keta Municipality of the Volta Region are calling for the construction of a centralised cold-storage facility and commercial processing factory to reduce post-harvest losses and improve the value of crops produced across the southern sector.

Power tariffs will remain unchanged in the fourth quarter (Q4) despite a 3.04 percent depreciation of the cedi and a sharp rise in the inflation assumption used by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) as lower natural gas costs and a stronger projected contribution from hydro generation help contain pressure on electricity prices.

The Central Securities Depository (CSD) is working to become the fourth central securities depository in Africa to issue legal entity identifiers (LEIs) for companies in Ghana, as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s capital-market infrastructure and deepen its integration with global financial markets.

The Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has indicated that the country is accelerating efforts to expand tree-crop production and local processing, including cashew, as government seeks to boost value addition, attract investment and increase the sector’s contribution to economic growth.