The report that the government is confident that the country will conclude negotiations and seal a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by December to help stabilise the economy and relieve citizens of the current economic challenges dominates the headlines of Ghanaian press on Thursday.
The Graphic reports that government is confident the country will conclude negotiations and seal a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by December to help stabilise the economy and relieve citizens of the current economic challenges.
The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, said in Accra last Tuesday that the December deadline was President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s expectation and his outfit was working towards realising it.
Addressing some bank executives and the media at an event to sign an agreement between selected financial institutions and the government for the YouStart programme, Mr Ofori-Atta said the President wanted the negotiations to be concluded and a deal secured before the 2023 Budget was laid before Parliament.
He said the timeline was to enable the government to incorporate the expected IMF programmes into the 2023 Budget for onward implementation from next year.
Next year’s budget is due to be presented by November 15.
Speaking about the government’s commitment to revive the economy, Mr Ofori-Atta said now was a crunch time for the government as it raced against time to secure a deal from the IMF.
“As you know, the President wants this thing to be done before the budget and the budget should be done by November 15. So, it is really a crunch time now,” the Finance Minister said.
He said a team from the Fund was expected in the country from September 26 to 27 for the second round of negotiations after which the discussions will continue in Washington D.C. during this year’s Annual General Meeting of the World Bank and the IMF from October 10 to 16.
The newspaper says that Ghana’s quest to become an aviation hub in the West African sub-region is gradually gaining momentum with the development of an aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry.
It follows an ongoing certification process of the 3AMS-CELEMS Company Limited to operate Ghana’s first maintenance, repair and overhaul facility at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
When completed, it will enable airline operators, especially those in the domestic space such as PassionAir and Africa World Airlines (AWA) to undertake MRO services locally.
The move is also expected to help Ghana take advantage of the global aircraft MRO market estimated at $87.01 billion per annum.
Consequently, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has given the permission for 3AMS-CELEMS Company Limited to proceed to stage four of the five-stage certification process.
A Senior Aviation Safety Inspector (Airworthiness) at the GCAA, Benjamin Owusu, briefing some selected journalists in Accra on September 22, said the stage-four involved demonstration and inspection of the MRO facility.
“It is after a successful demonstration and inspection that the final certificate will be issued for operation of MRO services to start in the country,” he said.
Mr Owusu, who is also Manager in charge of Quality Assurance at GCAA, said the certification process started November 2017 with a certification team established by the GCAA to take 3AMS-CELEMS Company Limited through the process.
The Ghanaian Times reports that a total of 10 International Oil Companies (IOCs) owe Ghana surface rental fee arrears of $2.77 million, the 2022 semi-annual Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) report, has revealed.
Of the outstanding debt, $1.7 million, representing 62.30 per cent, is owed by four companies whose Petroleum Agreements (PAs) were terminated by the Petroleum Commission, in 2021, for non-performance.
Apart from operators of the Sahara Energy Fields Ghana Limited, which has made part payment of $71,934m during the period under review, the three others – Swiss African Oil Company Limited, UB Resources and Brittania U have not shown commitment to pay their debt.
The remaining of $970,942 areas is owed by six companies whose PAs are operational; GOIL Offshore , $147,400; EcoAtlantic, $44,882.00; Springfield Exploration and Production,$84,086.58; Medea Development $156,540.00; Base Energy Ghana Limited, $800.00; OPCOOffshore $537.869.
The Chairman of PIAC, Professor Kwame Adom-Frimpong, gave highlight of the report, which covers the management and use of petroleum revenues for January –June 2022at a press briefing, in Accra, yesterday.
Expressing worry about the continued increase in Surface Rentals outstanding, he said at the end of Half year 2022, the balance outstanding of $2,774,702.29 constituting an increase of 7.58 percent on the surface rentals of $2,579,170.21, at the end of 2021.
Prof. Adom-Frimpong asked the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to intensify its efforts at collecting surface rental arrears in addition to any new assessment before the end of the year.
“To enable GRA assess and collect revenues from IOCs before they exitGhana, the Minister for Energy is encouraged to inform GRA and other relevant institutions before the termination of PAs,” he said.
According to the report, total estimated Surface Rentals from all 14 existing Petroleum Agreements for 2022 amounted to $882,655.23.
On the outstanding $2,579,170.72 in Surface Rentals from both existing and terminated PAs as at end of 2021, total Surface Rentals receivable in 2022,was estimated at $3,461,825.95.
The newspaper says that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stressed the need for the global community to help strengthen the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prevent conflicts such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Armenia-Azerbaijan war.
President Akufo-Addo made the suggestion when the President of the ICC, Piotr Hofmanski, called on him at the Jubilee House in Accra Tuesday to discuss issues related to the work of the court.
The discussion centred mainly on how the court should function to improve international justice and peace.
The ICC is an international body that investigates and tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community
The court focuses primarily on crimes such as genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.
As a court of last resort, it seeks to complement national courts. The ICC is governed by an international treaty known as the Rome Statute.\
President Akufo-Addo stressed the need to give the court universal jurisdiction around the world and entreated global super powers such as the United States and China to support the work of the court.
Citing examples with the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the misunderstanding between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the President said such wars could be prevented if the court had universal jurisdiction
Mr Hofmanski, on his part, said the court had enjoyed the support of Ghana and expressed the commitment to continue to cooperate with the Ghanaian government.
He said Ghana had provided political and other forms of support to the work of the ICC, even in difficult circumstances.
GIK/APA