The report the country’s Gross International Reserves (GIR) peaked at $9.7 billion as of the end of January 28, 2022, which is equivalent to more than 4.4 months of import cover is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Ghanaian Times reports that the country’s Gross International Reserves (GIR) as of the end of January 28, 2022 stood at 9.7 billion dollars.
This is equivalent to more than 4.4 months of import cover.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) disclosed this in a statement it issued in Accra on Monday, after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting to announce a new policy rate.
The MPC held its 104th regular meeting last week to deliberate on recent global and domestic development and how they have shaped macroeconomic conditions and assessed risk to inflation and growth outlook, to decide the new policy rate which was maintained at 14.5 per cent.
The policy or prime rate is the rate at which the BoG lends to commercial banks in the country.
The Central Bank said the GIR as of December 2021 stood at $9.7 billion, equivalent to 4.4 months of import cover.
“This compares with a reserve position of $8.6 billion (4.0 months of import cover) at the end of 2020,” the statement said, adding that “The strong reserve position provided some buffers for the local currency in 2021.”
The newspaper says that the Board of Directors of the African Development Fund has approved a $27.39 million grant to Ghana for the development of renewable energy investments in the mini grid and net metering space.
The project involves the development of 35 mini grids, standalone solar photovoltaic systems in 400 schools, 200 units in healthcare centres and 100 units for community energy services centres in the Volta Lake region.
It will also deploy up to 12,000 units of roof-mounted net-metered solar photovoltaic systems for public institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises and selected households.
The project has leveraged co-financing from the Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Programme, a funding window of the Climate Investment Funds, and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, amounting to $28.49 million and $13.30 million, respectively.
The Ghana Mini Grid and Solar Photovoltaic Net Metering is expected to have an annual electricity output of renewable energy estimated at 111,361MWh, corresponding to an installed capacity of 67.5MW.
The project will mitigate greenhouse emissions of 0.7795 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year and create up to 2,865 jobs during construction, of which 30 per cent will target women and youth.
The Graphic reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said one of the surest ways by which the government can raise money to finance development projects is taxation.
“We ourselves will have to find the money for our development, and that is the reason it has become necessary for us to introduce the famous tax which has caused so much disputation,” he said.
The introduction of the Electronic Levy (E-Levy), he said, was necessary for the government, since the country could not continue forever to be dependent on foreign grants and loans to keep the economy going.
Speaking during a courtesy call on him by traditional leaders from the Dzodze Traditional Area in the Volta Region at the Jubilee House in Accra last Tuesday, the President said he was determined to ensure that the government found the means to address some of the issues.
“Government does not have money of its own; taxing the people is the only way government raises money to be able to carry out its work. But as a government, we will continue to work hard,” he said.
The Dzodze traditional leaders, accompanied by the Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Letsa; the Ketu North Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Anthony Avorgbedor, and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Bui Power Authority, Mr Kofi Dzamesi, were at the seat of government to congratulate President Akufo-Addo on his victory in the 2020 general election, thank him for his leadership and express their satisfaction with the achievements of his government.
The newspaper says that the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, has given an assurance that the actualisation of the new tax measure, the Electronic Levy (E-levy), remains very important to support the country’s debt management, build infrastructure and ensure youth employment.
Speaking at a town hall meeting on the E-Levy at the Sekondi Takoradi Youth Hall for residents of the Western and Central regions, the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, said “the time has come for us to collect our own money to enable us to do what we intend to do”.
He said the government had proposed the 1.75 per cent on electronic cash transfers to help reduce the country’s debt and deficit, while enabling it to fund the growing demands of the Ghanaian people.
At the meeting, which was the second, the government team took time to explain the areas the E-levy covers, which are mobile money transfers between accounts on the same electronic money issuer (EMI) and mobile money transfer from an account on one EMI to a recipient on another EMI.
The affected areas also include transfers from bank accounts to mobile accounts and bank transfer on a digital platform or application, which originated from a bank account belonging to an individual.
The Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah; a Deputy Minister of Energy, Mr Andrew Egyapa Mercer, and the ministers of the Western and Central regions, Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah and Mrs Justina Marigold Assan, respectively took turns to support the finance Minister to explain the policy decision.
The people asked questions to clear their fear that there would be double taxation and also seek assurance that the taxes collected would be put to good use.
GIK/APA