The decision of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana to keep its policy rate unchanged at 14.5 percent due to rising crude oil prices and the call for collaboration among stakeholders to ensure availability and improved quality of water in Ghana are some of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana has kept its policy rate unchanged at 14.5 percent, citing pressures from rising crude oil prices and direct and secondary price effects of the revenue measures announced in the 2021 budget.
“Risks to inflation in the near-term are broadly balanced, but there are emerging short-term pressures emanating from the rising crude oil prices and the direct and secondary price effects of the revenue measures announced in the 2021 budget. Monetary policy would need to remain vigilant to monitor these risks,” the Bank of Ghana said in a statement after a meeting of the Committee.
The statement said the global economic recovery was underway although new variants of the COVID-19 virus weighed in on economic activity in the last quarter of 2020.
It said global financing conditions remained benign as major central banks reaffirmed the continuation of their asset purchase programmes, providing continued policy support and improved prospects about the global economy due to ongoing vaccination efforts, and the large fiscal stimulus in the United States.
It said the sustained policy support to moderate the impact of the pandemic and the massive rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programme in advanced economies have significantly improved global growth prospects for 2021 and the medium-term outlook.
The newspaper says that the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin, has directed Parliament to exert pressure on the committee that is supposed to advise him on the appointment of four individuals to serve on the Parliamentary Service Board (PSB).
He said the advice of the members of the committee should reach his office on or before Friday, March 26, failure of which he would interpret it as an attempt to obstruct the performance of the Speaker.
According to him, until the committee recommended the names of individuals who were to be appointed on the PSB, he could not, on his own accord, proceed to appoint the members since that would constitute a breach of the 1992 Constitution.
“I am not a Member of Parliament and so I need you to be able to function. You may need to go back and consider the committee that you set up or put pressure on the committee to submit the advice of the House on who those members are. Then I will proceed to do the appointment, we will inaugurate the board and we will proceed to work,” he stated.
Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Mr. Bagbin said: “Since I became the Speaker, Parliament’s committee has not given me any advice and I do not want to do this thing on a confrontation with Parliament”.
“And I agree that the advice should reach my office on or before Friday this week. Failure to receive that advice, Mr Speaker will proceed to interpret it as an attempt to obstruct the Speaker from performing his duty and Mr Speaker will proceed to do what Mr Speaker considers right,” he said.
The Graphic also reports that this year’s World Water Day was yesterday commemorated in Accra with a call for collaboration among stakeholders to ensure availability and improved quality of water in the country.
The Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Ms. Cecilia Abena Dapaah, who made the call, said the proportion of rivers with fairly good ambient water quality or better as of the end of 2016, stood at 39 percent.
The proportion increased to 53 per cent at the end of 2018, which was attributed mainly to the fight against illegal mining, and further improved to 57.8 percent in 2019, but reversed to 56.6 percent at the end of 2020.
The event, which was on the theme: “Valuing water,” has been observed on March 22 every year since 1992, and focuses on the importance of freshwater and its sustainable management.
Besides, it is also used to raise awareness of 2.2 billion people who are living without access to safe water sources globally.
According to the UN, global water demand is likely to rise by over 50 percent by 2040.
The Daily Guide says that the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has inaugurated two Skills Enterprise Centers in the Asutifi North District Assembly of the Ahafo Region.
The centers, located at Ntotroso and Kenyasi No. 2, are fully equipped with the necessary tools for soap and detergent making, welding and fabrication.
A total of 45 persons in the locality, including youth, women and Persons with Disability (PWDs), will be trained by officers from the National Vocational Training Institute (NVTI) Head Office.
During the 30-day training period, each trainee will be given daily stipends to support the payment of their transportation and meals.
Aside from the National Vocational Training Certificate which will be given to all beneficiaries after the training, each person learning soap and detergent making will be given GHS 5,000.00 as seed capital, while those learning welding and fabrication will receive GHS 1,500.00 together with a complete set of welding materials (portable welding machines and all welding accessories and protective wears).
Speaking at the official launch of the European Union-funded project dubbed, “Building Local Entrepreneurial Skills to Support the Rural Poor for Sustainable Economic Self-Reliance” and the inauguration of the Skills Enterprise Centers, Executive Director of CDD-Ghana, Professor H. K. Prempeh said the initiative formed part of CDD-Ghana’s contribution towards ensuring inclusive growth and development for Ghanaians.
GIK/APA