APA – Accra (Ghana)
The projection by the Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Annim that Ghana is expected to generate more than $1.5 billion from tourist arrivals by 2027 is one of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that the Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Annim, stated that Ghana is expected to generate more than $1.5 billion from tourist arrivals by 2027.
This projection is based on the 15-Year National Tourism Development Plan (2013-2027) and is expected to create over 1.4 million jobs for citizens, reducing the country’s employment deficit.
At the launch of this year’s Domestic and Outbound Tourism Survey (DOTS) on Monday (April 17, 2023) at Winneba in the Central region, Professor Annim announced that the survey aims to compile the Tourism Satellite Account, which will serve as a basis for computing the sector’s information for national development for three years.
The survey is funded by Harmonizing and Improving Statistics in West Africa and will begin on April 19, 2023.
The Professor emphasized the importance of tracking the country’s potential sector to enable authorities to have the necessary tourism-related information for comprehensive mapping and decision-making.
He added that the Statistical Service is profiling the policies of Ministries and Agencies in the country to ensure that there are clear targets on quality data.
In his remarks, Professor Kwaku Boakye, Chairman of the Technical Team for the Survey, noted that the development of tourism had not been lost on governments as they continued to invest and explore ways to maximize the benefits of the sector.
The UN World Tourism Organisation says the sector generated $1.7 trillion in revenues in 2019 and employed one out of every 10 workers globally.
The newspaper says that three major tax laws targeted at bolstering the sustainable generation of domestic revenue for Ghana and recently passed by Parliament has been given presidential assent.
The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah disclosed in a radio interview with Accra based Citi FM that the President has signed them.
The Information Minister indicated that after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assented to them, the laws have since been returned to the Clerk of Parliament for the final processes to be completed.
It will be recalled that Parliament on March 31, 2023, approved the three major tax bills.
They are the Excise Duty and Excise Tax Stamp (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the Income Tax (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2022, and the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022.
The trio, which were passed under certificates of urgency, are projected to complement the government’s efforts to raise more than GH¢4 billion annually.
The Excise Duty (Amendment) Bill, which will impose a 20 per cent tax on cigarettes and e-smoking devices, as well as sweetened beverages, spirits and wines, is projected to rake in about GH¢400 million annually, while the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill will generate about GH¢1.2 billion.
The Ghanaian Times reports that leading Oil Marketing Com¬panies (OMCs), GOIL, Total and Shell have all increased the prices of petrol and diesel.
GOIL is selling petrol at ¢13.10 per litre and diesel at ¢12.99 per litre. Shell is also selling a litre of petrol at ¢13.10 per litre, while diesel is going for ¢12.99.
Total is, however, selling both petrol and diesel at ¢13.20 per litre respectively, while Star Oil is selling both petrol and diesel at ¢12.69 per litre.
According to myjoyonline.com, other OMCs are expected to follow suit by adjusting upwards the prices of petroleum products at the pumps.
The upward adjustment in prices shows that petrol has gone up by a little above 5.5 per cent, and diesel by about 1.16 per cent.
The current increase in the prices of petroleum products is influenced by some significant increase of the price of crude oil and finished petroleum products on the world market.
Some energy think tanks had earlier projected that the price of petrol was expected to go up, whereas diesel and Liquefied Pe¬troleum Gas (LPG) will decline.
The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) predicted a 2.01 per cent increase in the price of petrol at the retail pumps from April 16, 2023.
According to COPEC, its forecast was based on the in¬crease in international benchmark pricing from $772.75 per metric tonne to $900.20 per metric tonne, indicating a 16.49 per cent rise. By this, the retail price of petrol works up to ¢12.41 per litre.
The Institute for Energy Security (IES) also projected that domestic fuel prices were likely to see some increment at the pumps, particularly petrol, and a marginal decrease for diesel and LPG.
“On account of international market performance observed and the domestic performance of the Ghana cedi, the IES projects prices of domestic gasoline (diesel) and LPG to decrease between 5% – 9 per cent and domestic gasoline (petrol) is forecasted to post the biggest increase of roughly 8%, in the coming weeks”.
The newspaper says that Ghana has completed all prior actions necessary to receive support for its economic recovery programme, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed.
According to Abebe Selassie, IMF Director for Africa, the only outstanding issue was the confirmation of financing assurances from external creditors.
He, however, noted that expecting a resolution to the matter are expectant when the Paris Club meets again this week.
Speaking at a press briefing on the sidelines of the April IMF Spring Meeting, he said all the measures required to present Ghana’s programme to the IMF Executive Board were complete.
“On the status of the programme with Ghana, we had reached staff-level agreement, as you know, last December. And we are now comfortable that all of the measures required for us to present the programme to our Executive Board are complete, except for the required financing assurances from external creditors.
“We are very comfortable with all the steps that Ghana has done, and that is why we are also urging creditors to step forward and provide the financing assurances needed for us to present the programme to the Board as soon as possible.
“We are very optimistic and keeping fingers crossed this will happen in the next few weeks,” Mr Selassie stated.
The IMF, he noted, is encouraged by the steps that the Ghana government had taken over the last several months since the programme request.
“It’s been a very difficult time of course, very difficult, very significant, measures that have had to be taken, and the initial steps that the government has taken are very encouraging,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, has commended Ghana for taking the bold actions necessary to enable it get support from the world for its economic recovery programme.
GIK/APA