The report that the inflation rate dropped slightly for the first time in 19 months from 54.1 per cent in December 2022 to 53.6 per cent in January this year is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the rate of change in prices of goods and services fell slightly for the first time in 19 months from 54.1 per cent in December 2022 to 53.6 per cent in January.
The January rate drop of 0.5 percentage points was on the back of a fall in non-food inflation.
The month-on-month inflation rate between December 2022 and January 2023 was 1.7 per cent.
Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, the Government Statistician, who announced this in Accra yesterday, said it meant that in the month of January 2023, the general price level was 53.6 per cent higher than in January 2022.
The food inflation increased to 6.1 per cent from the previous month’s food inflation of 59.7 per cent, with the month-on-month food inflation being 2.8 per cent.
The non-food inflation dropped to 47.9 per cent from 49.9 per cent from the previous month. The month-on-month non-food inflation was 0.8 per cent.
The Government Statistician said inflation for locally produced items fell to 50.0 percent from 51.1 per cent, while inflation for imported items also rose to 62.5 per cent from 61.9 per cent.
The Greater Accra region maintained its records as the region with the highest inflation rate of 66.7 per cent, meanwhile the Volta Region maintained the records of having the lowest regional inflation rate of 35.6 per cent.
The newspaper says that the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has commended the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, for his diligence to duty.
The Speaker, therefore, urged ministers in the current regime and future ministers, to emulate Mr Jinapor, who is the caretaker minister for Trade and Industry.
Mr Bagbin’s commendation follows the presentation of what he said was “a well-researched” policy statement on consumer protection in Ghana by the minister, who is also the MP for Damango.
In that presentation on the floor of Parliament, in Accra, yesterday ahead of the Consumer Rights Day on March 15, Mr Jinapor traced the history of consumer protection over the centuries across jurisdictions and its importance to the protection of consumer rights and the need for Ghana to have such a law.
He said “Let me thank the minister for always giving parliament prior notice of very key interventions he wants to make particularly dealing with policy and legislation.
“I think the industry of the minister needs commendation and I call on other ministers to emulate that good example, not only in this regime but future regimes.
“We expect cooperation between parliament and the executive. It gives us the opportunity to do enough research, prepare and then make inputs into what government wants to do.
“There are a lot of key policies we are having challenges with today because parliament was not involved at all. We are not only dealing with goods, we are also talking about services.
“Parliament is the representation of the people and as you know, all the power belongs to the people. So some of these issues, we need to work together so that when it comes up, we will all be in a position to explain to the people because there are a lot of implications.
“I think the minister has given a good account of himself and we all need to commend him.”
Mr Jinapor had told the House that though Ghana’s attempts to protect consumers predated its independence with statutes like the Weights and Measures Ordinance, 1896 (Cap 188) and the Control of Prices Regulations, 1949 (No. 25 of 1949), and other post-independence enactments fragmented across sectors, the country was yet to have a law that holistically protects consumers.
According to him, this state of affairs, long recognised as undesirable, has left the market unregulated in terms of consumer protection, leading to constant violation of consumer rights without an adequate remedy.
The Graphic reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appointed a Resident Adviser to the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to oversee and help strengthen financial sector supervision in the country.
The fund appointed Leonard Chumo, an Irish and Kenyan, to the central bank this month to provide technical assistance and help build the capacity of the banking supervision function of the regulator.
BoG said in the Tuesday, February 14, press release that the appointment was at the request of the central bank and will be fully funded by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
The statement said it was the second time since 2015 that the country was getting an Adviser from the IMF.
“The Adviser’s placement is a continuation of cooperation in this area between BoG, the IMF and SECO that started as early as in 2015 and had already seen the assignment of a previous Adviser until 2018.
“Achievements from the past collaborative efforts include the passage of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930), the development and issuance of the Corporate Governance Directive.
It said that Mr Chumo brings first-hand knowledge of supervisory work from leading central banks as well as previous technical assistance experience in the Western Africa region.
The statement also said Mr Chumo started his assignment in BoG on February 6 this year and was expected to stay for three years.
“Among others, he will support the implementation of Pillar two and three of the Basel II/III capital frameworks, as well as strengthen the Risk-Based Supervisory framework at BoG.
“BoG wishes to express its utmost appreciation to SECO for the continued funding of long-term technical experts from the IMF to the bank,” the statement said.
Ghana is closing in on a three-year US$3 billion support from the IMF to help reorganise its finances for the cedi depreciation and inflation to stabilise.
The newspaper says that the Kingdom of the Netherlands has joined forces with the MDF West Africa, the Ghana Innovation Hub and other private sector partners to drive entrepreneurship in the country.
Known as the Orange Corners (OC) Ghana Acceleration Programme, the initiative also has Fidelity Bank, Emergent Payments, Friesland Campina, Vivo Energy Ghana and Meridian Port Services (MPS) as private-sector partners.
So far, about 343 entrepreneurs spread across five regions have been selected as part of the seventh cohort programme.
A release from the initiative said after the nationwide callout for applications in November last year, 431 applications were received and screened for slots in the programme.
It said for the seventh cohort, which officially began on January 24, of this year, 166 entrepreneurs would be trained in Accra while the remainder will be trained in Kumasi, Tamale, Ho and Takoradi.
The statement said that ambitious entrepreneurs would be equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills, and access to markets and capital.
It said the Orange Corners Ghana programme was a six-month acceleration programme with 10 workshop days, several (online) masterclasses and individual coaching sessions.
It also serves as a bridge between these innovative entrepreneurs and the private sector, while facilitating access to finance through the Orange Corners Innovation Fund, the release added.
“This offers a great benefit to all partners involved,” it said.
It said the programme also received additional private sector support from De Heus Koudijs and Cargill, raising the institutional support from five to seven companies.
The Orange Corners is a global initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands that supports young entrepreneurs across 19 hubs in 15 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
This support contributes to a more sustainable, inclusive and prosperous society through training, mentorship, network, funding and facilities to start and grow their businesses.
GIK/APA