The report that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has maintained the policy rate at 29 per cent, citing economic stability is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has maintained the policy rate at 29 per cent, citing economic stability.
The policy rate is the rate at which the BoG lends to commercial banks.
Dr Ernest Addison, the Governor and Chairman of the MPC, who disclosed this in Accra yesterday after the regular 117th meeting of the MPC, said the Committee considered improvement in the domestic and global economy influenced the decision of the Committee.
In the domestic economy, Dr Addison said the growth outturn for 2023 was stronger relative to target.
He said the fourth quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 3.8 percent was driven by all services, agriculture and industry.
The updated Composite Index of Economic Activity (IEA), the high-frequency real sector indicator, also improved further in January, following the upturn in December 2023, affirming the rebound in economic activity.
That, Dr Addison said, was supported by broad improvements in sentiments, amid improvement in the Purchasing Money Index (PMI) reflecting some uptick in business purchasing activity and new orders.
The Governor indicated that headline inflation had remained broadly stable since December 2023.
He explained that headline inflation declined to 23.2 percent in February, down from 23.5 percent recorded in January 2024.
He said the decline was broad-based, with food inflation down by 0.1 percentage point to 27.0 percent, while non-food inflation declined to 20.0 percent.
The newspaper says that President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, yesterday launched the Smart Schools Project with about 1.3million students set to receive one tablet each.
An initiative of the Ministry of Education with support from the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schools (CENDELOS), the project is designed to equip students in the country with the requisite technological skills and know-how.
In addition to each of the students receiving a tablet, government will also construct 100 Smart Schools to provide modern learning environment and digital training in all 16 regions of the country.
Launching the project, President Akufo-Addo said the SSP was in alignment with government’s promise to enhance the free senior high school programme, leveraging technological advancements to enable students compete globally.
He said it was in fulfilment of the education for sustainable development agenda which was a key element in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals number four, which prioritises quality education as a key driver for the attainment of all 17 SDGs.
President Akufo-Addo said as part of the transformative agenda for education in the country, the SSP would provide the needed infrastructure to facilitate e-learning and digitalisation to boost high school education in the country.
In addition, he said a well thought-through arrangement would be provided with an electronic tablet with comprehensive teaching and learning management systems and digital learning contents to facilitate research, teaching and learning.
The President explained that the project sought to deepen the application of digitalisation in teaching and learning at the second cycle level.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), the leading philanthropy empowering young African entrepreneurs from all 54 African countries, has announced the successful entrepreneurs in its tenth selection for the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme.
This new cohort brings to 20,000 the number of young African entrepreneurs who have received funding, mentoring, and capacity-building support from the Foundation, double the initial commitment.
The Tony Elumelu Foundation has disbursed US$100,000,000 directly to young African entrepreneurs who have created over 400,000 direct and indirect jobs, contributing significantly to Africa’s economic growth and development.
Forty five per cent of these beneficiaries are women, reiterating the Foundation’s commitment to gender inclusion and equity.
Tony O. Elumelu, in a statement issued yesterday, said, “As we mark a decade of impact, I am immensely proud of the incredible journey we have embarked on.”
“Our entrepreneurs represent the driving force behind Africa’s economic transformation, and their resilience, determination, and innovation continue to inspire us all. The future of our continent is brighter because of their efforts,” he said.
Past entrepreneurs selected across Africa include Stella Sigana, Founder of Alternative Waste Technologies from Kenya, produces fuel briquettes by converting organic and charcoal waste from slum settlements, and dedicates a portion of the revenues to providing education, skills training, and job placement for adolescent girls and young women aged 18-24.
A statement issued by the Foundation said since her selection, she had created 12 jobs, generated over $79,000 in revenue, and recycled over 500 tonnes of waste into fuel briquettes for cooking.
The Graphic reports that speakers at the Graphic Business/ Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting have cited the unfavourable and complicated tax regime, lack of investment, poor road network and poor customer service as the major challenges affecting the development of the country’s tourism sector.
They argued that if these challenges were resolved, the sector, which is a major contributor to GDP and a major source of foreign exchange receipts, could play a critical role in the development of the country.
The speakers were Tax Partner at PwC, Abeku Gyan-Quansah, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Akwasi Agyemang, and the Managing Director of Labadi Beach Hotel, David Eduaful.
The meeting, which brought together players in the creative industry, hoteliers, regulators, and policymakers was held on the theme: “Tourism the Golden Egg; a Shared Responsibility.”
Mr Gyan-Quansah said unlike in the 1990s when the state supported the sector with some tax concessions, the sector was now treated as a leisure activity hence the introduction of some taxes. “The state is now treating tourism as a leisure activity which means that if you engage in some tourist-related thing, the belief is that you have made some money and therefore you need to contribute more in taxes”.
“Before 2002, you could go to a hotel and not pay VAT but that is not the case anymore. And at a point in 2014, when we knew that domestic airlines should also promote tourism, we still slapped VAT on it,” he stated.
The tax expert also pointed out that the overall tax regime of the country was unnecessarily over-complicated which also affected the tourism industry.
GIK/APA
Ghana: Press spotlights maintaining of policy rate at 29% by BoG, others
