The report that remittances from Ghanaians grew by five percent from $3.39 billion in 2019 to $5.57 billion in 2020, according to the World Bank is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Monday.
The Graphic reports that remittances from Ghanaians grew by five percent from $3.39 billion in 2019 to $5.57 billion in 2020, a World Bank report has said.
This was in spite of the grim economic outlook presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected people’s earnings and the economies of nations worldwide last year.
The growth in remittances is the first in two years after money sent home by migrant workers suffered consistent declines in 2018 and 2019.
After peaking at $3.54 billion in 2017, remittance flows to the country fell to $3.52 billion in 2018 before dropping further to $3.39 billion in 2019, according to the World Bank data.
The report, which was released this month alongside the country by country inflows, indicated that flows to Ghana in 2020 were equivalent to 5.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and the annual rise could mark the reversal of the drop in growth suffered in the last two years.
Already, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has expressed optimism that a global rebound in economic activities on the back of COVID-19 vaccine rollout would strengthen job prospects and boost migrants’ incomes, resulting in increased flows in 2021, relative to last year.
The newspaper says that 360,000 people who received their first COVID-19 jabs between March 1 and 9, 2021 will be eligible for shots during the deployment of the second dose of vaccines from May 19 to May 26.
The nine-day exercise is the third phase of the national vaccination programme against COVID-19.
Those who will receive the jabs are in the 43 districts in the Greater Accra, Ashanti and Central regions, that were covered in the first phase of the exercise.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who made this known yesterday in his 25th address to the nation on the country’s enhanced response to the COVID-19 pandemic, said the vaccines for the exercise – comprised 350,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines recently received under the COVAX initiative and existing stock.
The President explained that the upcoming vaccination, which came approximately 12 weeks after the first jab, was within the time frame prescribed by science.
He said more details of the deployment would be communicated by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) this week.
The Graphic also reports that opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has added its voice to the growing number of condemnations against the alleged arrest and assault on two journalists of Accra based Citi Fm/CitiTV by National Security Operatives.
In a statement signed by its General Secretary, Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia, the NDC said the alleged attack on Mr Caleb Kudah and the harassment of Mrs. Zoe Abu-Baidoo Addo formed part of what it described as a culture of impunity under the Akufo-Addo administration.
It mentioned the recent alleged attack on the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator by some persons believed to be part of a vigilante group and the presence of military men on the floor of Parliament during the election of a Speaker of Parliament to drive home its point.
“The genesis of these trends is not hard to identify: the needless invasion by state-sponsored vigilantes of the voting process during the Ayawaso Bye-election in January 2019, the virtual militarisation of the registration of voters last year and the unprecedented violence that accompanied the election proper last December, culminating in the untimely death of eight innocent Ghanaian citizens,” the NDC said.
In the estimation of the NDC, the attack on the two journalists showed that the Akufo-Addo led administration had failed to uphold the rule of law.
“The continued presence of Deputy Superintendent of Police, Samuel Kojo Azugu, in the National Security apparatus and the brutish conduct of Lt-Colonel Agyemang fly totally in the face of the solemn recommendations of the Emile Short Commission of Inquiry,” the NDC said.
The Daily Guide says that the government has assured that it will continue to provide affordable electricity tariffs.
The Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, made this known to the media on Sunday afternoon, May 16, 2021.
Speaking to journalists from the Information Ministry, he said that the 288% increase in tariffs between 2009 and 2016 viz the -2% increase of 2017 to 2020).
“We will provide Ghanaians with affordable and reliable power,” he said.
GIK/APA