APA – Accra (Ghana)
The assurance by visiting Vice-President of the United States, Kamala Harris, that the US supports Ghana’s engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and will continue to push for all bilateral creditors to provide meaningful debt reduction for Ghana is one of the trending stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.
The Graphic reports that visiting Vice-President of the United States (US), Kamala Harris, has given an assurance that her country supports Ghana’s engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and will continue to push for all bilateral creditors to provide meaningful debt reduction for Ghana.
“I recognise the challenges Ghanaians are facing, especially in the wake of a global pandemic and the disruptions caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” she said, and noted that the US welcomed Ghana’s commitment to reform its economy to deliver sustainable and inclusive growth.
Vice-President Harris gave the assurance yesterday during a joint press conference with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Jubilee House in Accra.
Ms Harris also announced a $100-million support for Ghana, Benin, Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo to help them address the threats of violent extremism and instability.
That was shortly after the US Vice-President, who is on a three-day state visit to Ghana, had held bilateral talks with President Akufo-Addo and some officials on both sides.
The Ghana team included Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia.
The discussions ranged from long-term economic outlook, regional security, human rights, democracy to good governance.
The newspaper says that a huge explosion has ripped through one of the thermal plants at the Aboadze power enclave in the Shama District in the Western Region, leading to the loss of 50 megawatts (MW) of power to the national grid.
However, the Volta River Authority (VRA) has said there is no cause for alarm, as there is enough generation to cover the shortfall from the blast.
Speaking with the Daily Graphic, the Deputy Chief Executive of the VRA in charge of Engineering and Operation, Edward Obeng Kenzo, said the explosion, which occurred last Thursday, was of very high pressure, leading to the flying of heavy metallic objects.
However, he said, there was no fatality.
“At the time, there was limited human movement,” he said.
When the Daily Graphic visited the scene, there were piles of debris, with the windows of some of the offices at the site and the windscreens of vehicles shattered.
Residents of the community who heard the blast said they were initially scared, but the company, through its community relations outfit, engaged them to explain to them what had happened.
Mr Kenzo attributed the explosion to a system failure and gave an assurance that it would be rectified as soon as possible to restore the lost megawatts.
“A cable got burnt and grounded some control boards which control the pressure build-up and the boiler,” he explained.
He said as it happened, the operators tried to control it manually but the pressure was such that manual control could not rectify the situation.
The Ghanaian Times reports that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to collaborate with the United States of America at all levels in finding peaceful resolution to conflicts in the world.
He said Ghana and the US had collaborated effectively on several matters over the years and a major outcome of their meeting yesterday was the reaffirmation of the commitment to collaborate further to provide mutual support at both multi and bilateral levels.
“Ghana will continue to collaborate with the United States of America at all levels, particularly towards peaceful resolution of conflict and in the search of global peace and security to promote sustainable development around the world,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo made these comments at a joint press conference after bilateral talks at the Jubilee House with Ms Kamala Harris, Vice President of the US in Accra yesterday.
Ms Harris was received at the Jubilee House by Nana Akufo-Addo as part of her three-day state visit to Ghana.
On her arrival at the Jubilee House, Harris inspected a guard of honour mounted by the Ghana Air force, and took the national salute with a 21-gun salute in the background.
She was met at the foyer of Ghana’s Presidency by Nana Akufo-Addo where the two exchanged pleasantries and retired to the ceremonial room for a one-on-one discussions.
Addressing the media after the meeting, President Akufo-Addo said the visit by Ms Harris reaffirmed the ties of cooperation and bonds of friendship that the two countries attached to their relationship and each other.
He said Ghana and the US pledged their commitment to exploring areas of interest for the mutual benefit of the two countries.
President Akufo-Addo said “Our two countries share similar aspirations and values. We are both committed to democratic governance with its respect for human rights, the rule of law and the principles of democratic accountability.”
The newspaper says that the Bank of Ghana has increased its policy rate by 150 basis points to 29.5 per cent to help check the high inflation and any downside risks to the economy.
Announcing the development at a news conference in Accra yesterday, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison, said the ease in price pressures abroad would likely impact positively on Ghana’s domestic inflation profile going forward.
“Headline inflation has declined marginally for two consecutive months, but continues to remain relatively high compared to the medium-term target of 8±2 percent. To place the economy firmly on the path of stability and reinforce the pace of disinflation, it is important that the monetary policy stance be tuned further to re-anchor inflation expectations towards the medium-term target. Given these considerations, the MPC decided to increase the Monetary Policy Rate by 150 basis points to 29.5 percent,” he said.
He said the recent Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) had impacted negatively on banks, hence the need for the Central Bank to make necessary adjustments to its regulatory requirements to support the banks.
“Whiles the domestic economy still faces relatively tight global financing conditions and heightened uncertainty about the global economic outlook, the effects of these could be amplified inherent vulnerabilities, including structural and excess liquidity following the DDEP and the widening negative outlook gap,” he said.
He, however, said the banks remained strong, sound and stable based on its recent stress test.
He added that the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana would continue to monitor developments within the banking industry to reduce the downside risks to the economy.
GIK/APA
Press spotlights US push for Ghana’s debt reduction
