As a result, commercial banks also bear greater responsibility to their customers in earning interests on such deposits.

The latest banking sector report by the Bank of Ghana shows that deposits accounted for 62.5 percent of the banking industry’s assets as at December 2017.

According to the central bank’s data, total deposits went up by some 6.67 billion cedis between December 2016 and the same period last year.

For the twelve months period, total amounts deposited with all banks amounted to 58.28 billion cedis.

This is up from the 51.66 billion cedis recorded in December of the preceding year.

84.2 percent of all deposits came in as domestic currency while the remaining 15.8 percent came in foreign currency.

Borrowings by commercial banks also came in as the second source of funding for commercial banks accounting for about 16 billion cedis of the funding needs of the banks.

By this, commercial banks were able to raise money for their operations from short and long term instruments.

Although income from loans to customers dropped between December 2016 and the same period last year (46.4 percent in December 2017, from 50.7 percent in December 2016), it perhaps still leads as income generating source for banks.

A situation, the central bank attributed to the drop in lending rates as well as the rising Non Performing Loans.

Meanwhile, the share of income from investments (both short and long term) increased from 33.5 percent in December 2016 to 38.0 percent in 2017, justifying the shifts in banks’ portfolio preferences despite declining money market rates.

Also, the money that the banking industry made from fees and commissions such as ATM card use dropped from 10.6 to 10.2 percent between the twelve month period.

While ‘other’ income, recorded a marginal increase from 5.2 percent to 5.5 percent during the period under review.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Deposits still major source of funds for banks – BoG report appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the Bank of Ghana, the businesses constituted 80.6 percent of loan default attributable to the private sector for last year compared to the estimated 7.9 percent of loan default attributable to the private sector recorded by foreign businesses.

This is among the key findings of the Banking sector report for January this year.

The report catalogued operations in the banking industry as at December 2017.

Between December 2016 and the same period last year, the total loans that banks offered to their customers increased from 35.4 to 37.66 billion cedis.

The Bank of Ghana’s report also put the banking sector’s non-performing loans (NPLs) at 8.58 billion cedis as at the end of last year compared to the 6.14 billion cedis recorded in the preceding year.

Even though loan disbursements to both indigenous and foreign private sector businesses went up for the period, the local private businesses defaulted most in terms of repaying the loans.

Of the ninety-four percent loan default attributable to the private sector, indigenous private enterprises accounted for as much as 80.6 percent of total NPLs in December 2017 compared with a share of 78.9 percent in 2016.

Their foreign counterparts on the other hand, managed to bring their percentage of loan default down to 7.9 percent from 13.2 percent in the preceding year.

Meanwhile the public sector’s contribution to the industry’s NPLs increased from 3.2 percent in December 2016 to 5.7 percent in December 2017.

It is however not certain, what factors accounted for the inability of local businesses to repay for loans contracted from banks.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Local businesses worst loan defaulters in 2017 – BoG report appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is because the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has explained that the reduction will only reflect on the bills of consumers when they make their second purchase of credit for electricity for April.

The latest also follows the shift of the implementation date of the tariff reduction from March 15, 2018 to April 1, 2018.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) on March 5, 2018, announced a reduction in electricity tariffs of between 17.5 and 30 percent for residential and commercial consumers to ease the burden of the high cost of electricity in the country.

The power distributor had earlier explained that the implementation date of 1^st April was due to its monthly billing system which could not immediately effect the change after the announcement in March.

Though some of ECG vendors had earlier told Citi Business News that the reduction had not been effected on April 1^st, a vendor at Circle confirmed to Citi Business News the situation has changed as of Tuesday, April 3^rd.

“The subsidies have started reflecting, unlike yesterday when you came here to check. So for today I can confirm that it has started reflecting”.

The Public Relations Officer for the Accra East Region of the ECG, Isaac Nurris Ainooson also explained to Citi Business News that consumers should see the reduction upon their second purchase this month.

“We told customers that when you vend on the 1^st of April , the first vending would aggregate your consumption for the whole of March and would give you the credit refund due you from the 15^th to the 31^st of March”, he stated.

He added, “so those who went to our vending points to deposit money for the first purchase, some of them saw the tariff as in the subsidies and all that and in the second vending, whatever is due you from the 15^th to the 31^st of March will be given to customers”.

But one customer who spoke to Citi Business News at the ECG vending point in Osu said she has been left disappointed after making her first purchase in April only to realize that the tariff reduction has not reflected on her purchase.

“Every month I pay one hundred Ghana cedis but now I pay more than that, I came today to purchase credit hoping to see the tariff reduction on my receipt but unfortunately for me, it’s the same just like the old ones, so I will have to wait until my next purchase”.

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By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post New electricity bills to start with second purchase in April – ECG appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Secretary of the Senior Staff Association of BOST, Ekow Sey claims that some Bulk Oil Distribution Companies (BDCs) and highly placed individuals, who form the cartel, have since October last year (2017), prevented BOST from importing petroleum products into the country.

Speaking to Citi Business News, Mr. Sey warned of dire consequences if nothing is done to break up the growing cartel within the petroleum sector.

“As we speak now, BOST is the only entity that has been given the mandate to ensure that we keep strategic stock for the country.  The question we should ask ourselves is that a state company that has been given such a huge responsibility, why is it that from October till date people are trying so hard to put obstacles in our way to bring in petroleum products for strategic reasons. For fuel insecurity, I can’t speak about it in detail but you can make some analogy and draw some inference and get your answer.”

Mr. Sey also highlighted the difficulty BOST faces in maintaining the needed level of strategic stocks of petroleum products, in the face of attacks from the cartel.

“The BDCs have no mandate to keep strategic stocks for the country. So they can dispose of any products they have. But in the event that there are issues and we run out of petroleum products, who is going to ensure that we have strategic stocks for the country? It is only BOST, and once we are not allowed now, with impediments and some obstacles being put in our line of operation, it is very clear that very soon there’ll be fuel shortage within our pumps and within the market.”

In an earlier statement to express their displeasure at developments within the petroleum industry attributable to cartels, the Senior and Junior Staff Associations asserted that the great cartel has been in the system for long and will only be suppressed when the President, the Vice President, Chief of Staff and the Energy Minister understand the important role that BOST can play to bring petroleum prices down.

“Government should know that in the deregulation petroleum regime like ours without any giant governmental agency playing a role;  even if the government removes all taxes the private sector which now controls the industry will replace it with profit in a smart way leaving the ordinary consumers in their vulnerable state; hence reducing taxes is not the ultimate option,” the statement added.

On the part of Mr. Mampaya, the Chairman of the Junior Staff Union he categorically stated that in most cases those in right positions to deal with the problems are given wrong advice.

He cautioned that if the government ignored their advice, “this great cartel whose members have made themselves kingmakers can worry the government in 2020 election because the ground is being prepared for that.”

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By: Bobbie Osei/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Fuel crisis looms over cartel in petroleum industry – BOST workers appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The TIN, according to the GRA, is aimed at uniquely identifying potential taxpayers to broaden the tax base.

The Authority has, in recent times, announced that all Ghanaians working must acquire a TIN to fulfill the Revenue Administration Act (RAA), 2016, Act 915.

Some of the institutions that will require TIN are the DVLA, RGD, Passport Office, GRA, Lands Commission, Law Courts, Ministries, government departments, agencies, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.

Addressing journalists at a press conference, the Commissioner-General of the GRA, Emmanuel Kofi Nti warned that institutions mandated to check the TIN must do so before transacting businesses with the public.

“One cannot transact business with these institutions if one does not have the TIN. One cannot clear goods from the ports, register land documents with the Lands Commission, obtain a Tax Clearance certificate from the  GRA, open a bank account, register your company, and obtain payments for jobs or contracts done for government,” he stressed.

He added that without the TIN, a person cannot file a case at the courts, bid for contracts from government agencies, conduct business with any ministry, departments, agencies, metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies.

Mr. Nti explained that this is to help increase the number of people currently issued with TIN; a total of 1,090,338 people.

He disclosed that the GRA has already held series of meetings with the key institutions that must help inspect the TIN to ensure the smooth operations of the policy.

“These institutions have been requested to modify their forms to include a field for the provision of TIN. Consequently, GRA expects the institutions mentioned above to demand the TIN of their clients before transacting business with them,” he said.

Sounding a word of caution, Mr. Nti stressed that refusal to inspect the TIN will mean a breach of the law, which will attract the necessary consequences.

He explained that to get the TIN, “one only needs to pick a registration form from any GRA Office, complete and attach the necessary coloured photocopies of a Driver’s license, National Identification Card, Voter’s Identification Card, or a passport and submit at  no cost to the GRA.”

He stated that it is important for Ghanaians to pay their taxes since that is the only way government can redistribute wealth to cover the poor and vulnerable in the society.

“I think we must be tax compliance because that is the only way we can be part of the state and demand development from government. Everybody working must make it a point to pay their taxes.”

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By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post You can’t do business with gov’t without TIN – GRA warns appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

In a statement, the executives of the two unions stated that BOST is the only institution with the adequate infrastructure and the human resource capacity to bring petroleum prices down.

[contextly_sidebar id=”nvsuCm1UOD2YwMsMXZRaPxfK04VqyYoP”]Thus, they have said the government should pay attention to them and ignore the persons within the company who have formed a great cartel that has dominated the industry.

Prior to the Easter break, the executives of the two unions; Abdul Jamil, Ekow Sey, Mr. Mampaya, and Mr Newton Godfred Amoh, spoke on several radio stations mainly in Accra and Kumasi, where they cautioned the government against a “great cartel” in the petroleum industry.

“…the government is preventing the same cartel from their illegal activities such as fuel dumping, diversion of premix fuel, diversion of marine fuel, adulteration of fuel etc. For this reason, they are not happy, and will therefore mislead the government by increasing fuel prices anyhow with the excuse that international fuel prices have gone up,” they said.

They further stated that the great cartel has been in the system for long and will only be suppressed when the President, the Vice President, Chief of Staff and the Energy Minister understand the important role that BOST can play to bring petroleum prices down.

“Government should know that in the deregulation petroleum regime like ours without any giant governmental agency playing a role;  even if the government removes all taxes the private sector which now controls the industry will replace it with profit in a smart way leaving the ordinary consumers in their vulnerable state; hence reducing taxes is not the ultimate option,” the statement added.

On the part of Mr. Mampaya, the Chairman of the Junior Staff Union he categorically stated that in most cases those in right positions to deal with the problems are given wrong advice.

He cautioned that if the government ignored their advice, “this great cartel whose members have made themselves kingmakers can worry the government in 2020 election because the ground is being prepared for that.”

Find below a section of the statement from the BOST unions

What is happening now is that BOST is crippled so petroleum market in the country has been taken over by the great cartel. On the contrary the government is preventing the same cartel from their illegal activities such as fuel damping, diversion of premix fuel, diversion of marine fuel, aldulteration of fuel etc. For this reason they are not happy and will therefore mislead the government by increasing fuel prices anyhow with the excuses that international fuel prices have gone up. They were enjoying all the illegal activities previously and will only be happy when that opportunity is available to them. To avoid this agenda of the great cartel, it is advisable to empower the 100% government owned BOST to compete with them so that their plans will be curtailed.

Mr Newton Godfred Amoh who is the secretary to the Local Union also said most of the members of the great cartel are highly rich and can easily influence government officials to act unreasonably. He said apart from Ghana there is nothing called BDCs anywhere in the world but here the BDCs are controlling the affairs to the extend that in 2014 they took the entire nation into ransom. He further stated that when the great cartel realised that BOST was planning to redeem Ghanaians from the burden of high petroleum prices, they quickly attacked the Managing Director with baseless, malicious, illogical and childish accusations to halt the intended plans. He added that the great cartel has a lot of incredible civil society groups as their members and they always hide behind such groups and sponsor them to throw dust into the eyes of Ghanaians.

During his turn Mr Ekoy Sey the secretary of the Senior Staff Union expressed dissatisfaction about the Bank of Ghana and the Ministry of Finance’s refusal to waive the single obligor limit on GCB to offer USD 120 million line of credit to BOST for petroleum product importation. He said the laws are made to make life easy for Ghanaians but not the opposite. He pointed out that today fuel price at the pump is about GHS4.51 per litre on the average leading to  GHS20.30 per gallon but if this waiver is granted BOST can bring the price down to about GHS 4.00 per litre and GHS 18.00 per gallon which will be affordable to all and most  importantly BOST will be able to maintain the same price for a very long time through the trading arrangement existing between BOST, GO Energy and Goil. He concluded that if the situation is not arrested the price will go up again in the next window thereby rendering the tax reduction granted useless.

Mr Abdul Jamil who is the Chairman of the Senior Staff union lamented that President Akufo-Addo should continue to repose confidence in the Managing Director of BOST, Mr Alfred Obeng Boateng because the man is hard-working, innovative, competent and above all the most incorruptible Managing Director the company  has had in recent years. “This is the man who has blocked most of the loopholes in the company and has attracted enemies to himself but has vowed to standby his plans to turn the company round in order to leave a mark irrespective of the subotage and the frustrations”.  What amazes the staff is that he has brought unity to the company, assign everybody contrary to the previous administration where some people were on old salary scale whilst others enjoyed new salary scale. A few people who are agents of the great cartel will soon be exposed and hope that the MD will sanction them accordingly. As we speak two staff suspected to leak fake information to outsiders have been interdicted and a five member committee has been set up to investigate them and submit their report  within 2 weeks. If found culpable I have no doubt of management sacking them summarily. “We cannot sit down for a few people to destroy BOST which is strategically positioned to serve the nation just because of their selfish interest which is always placed above the national interest”: Mr Abdul Jamil stated.

He enumerated some of the policies that the new Managing Director has brought to BOST which is causing all the hatred and dislike by the members of the great cartel. The excellent decisions to safe the company is the cause of the frequent attack on him since he assumed office in January 2017.

1. In the past the members of the great cartel could divert about 10 trucks each of 50000 litre of fuel and sold into their pockets leaving BOST in debt. Today such practices are things of the past because of the measures put in place by Mr Obeng. Thus he has reshuffled the loading terminal (APD) transmission team and many other things.
2. Another disturbing canker that had been eliminated which is also causing anger among the members of the great cartel is the policy that contaminated product can no longer be sold to BOST staff and any employee involved in causing it would face criminal trial. The result is that since the assumption of office by Mr Obeng the fuel contamination that was very rampant in the past has ceased. No contamination has happened since 25th January 2017 to date.
3. In the past products were sent to Burkina Faso, Mali, Liberia and sometimes Nigeria without any financial instruments to secure it. Till date there is a huge debt in our books against those foreign companies which cannot be traced. Perhaps it was one of the means that the members of the great cartel were siphoning BOST money. The present Managing Director said we cannot continue to injure our own national company so bad like that, henceforth any export must be on cash and carry transaction basis.
4. It may interest you to know that some BDCs were given products without invoice meaning they were getting the products free of charge at the expense of BOST and some of them still feel bitter when the new management put measures to eliminate such fraudulent practices in the company.
5. BDCs were storing their products in BOST system and some were either not paying the storage fees at all or paying for only one month irrespective of the number of months that the products were kept in the system. The incorruptible, competent  current Managing Director’s bold decision to ensure that every BDC pays for Storage and Rack fee fully and for storage fees on monthly basis has also offended the members of the great cartel.

Conclusion

The loopholes that Mr Obeng led administration has blocked are many and therefore he and his team deserve commendation and support from the media and the general public to be able to withstand the unnecessary attack directing to them periodically.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Great cartel’ manipulating fuel prices – BOST staff warn gov’t appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to the association, government must do more by equipping local poultry farmers to meet the demand for poultry.

The Ministry of Agriculture recently announced that it has restricted the importation of frozen poultry products into the country. Poultry farmers have on several occasions lamented the effect of the high import of poultry into the country as one of the many hindrances to the growth of their industry.

Speaking to Citi Business News on the matter, Vice President of the Local Poultry Farmers Association, Mr. Napoleon Agyemang Oduro said in order for the local poultry industry to be sustained, government must do more than restricting the import of poultry products.

“I will first want to see what measures we have put in place to enhance production and productivity in the country and then we can talk of the restriction, otherwise it will just be an economic disgrace to say we have started restriction when our poultry farmers cannot produce to fill the gap,” he said.

Mr. Oduro explained that poultry farmers need support from government to enable them gradually fill in the gap that will come along with the restriction.

“There is the need to do something at every stage of the value chain. So if we are talking about restriction it’s good but we will also have to supply what it takes to produce and fill the gap”.

He added, “It is important we position ourselves in terms of activity to be able to fill the gap , we have the hatcheries, the seed millers, the , the processing materials and the poultry farmers , so all we want is government support and guidance to help us fill in the gap”.

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By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Poultry Farmers Association appeals to gov’t for support appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This is due to the full implementation of the recently announced electricity tariff reduction from residential and non-residential power users in the country.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in March announced a reduction in electricity tariffs of between 17 and 30 percent for residential and commercial consumers.

Though the reduction was scheduled to take effect on March 15, the ECG suggested that its monthly billing system couldn’t allow the immediate implementation.

The Managing Director of the ECG, Engineer Samuel Boakye-Appiah in an earlier press conference explained why the reduction could not take effect as indicated.

He said that “the monthly billing cycle of the prepayment metering system does not technically allow ECG to implement the review in the middle of the month”.

“Consequently, prepaid customers of ECG should note that the programming of the billing system will refund the reduction from the implementation date of the 15th to 31st March 2018. When they deposit cash or purchase electricity from 1st April 2018 onwards,” he added.

Engineer Boakye-Appiah pointed out that, the prepayment system will detect aggregate purchase for consumers in March, and then compute the reduction due them, from the effective date of 15th March to 31st March.

“This will be refunded to you on your next visit to vending point”.

He stated that the average percentage reduction, which is 15.5 percent for residential, 30 percent for non-residential, 25 percent for SLT and 10 percent for the mines, effective 15th March 2018 is only on energy consumption.

“Therefore the addition of statutory levies and other fixed charges will reduce the average percentage relief announced by the PURC”, he noted.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ECG tariff reductions take effect today appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The energy think tank argues that failure to contain the situation could lead to a power crisis which will discomfort consumers.

Operators of the Jubilee fields have announced a shutdown in May for some repair works on the turret bearing.

Speaking to Citi Business News on the matter, the Head of Programs at ACEP, Alhassan Iddrisu called on government to effectively carry out all outlined plans to ensure that Ghanaians enjoy uninterrupted power during the shutdown of the FPSO.

“I think that our production capacity makes us a bit comfortable. We generate more than we currently need, so we don’t expect any power shortage during the shutdown, seeing that the Ministry of Energy has put in place measures to forestall any occurrence of shortage in power supply. But we cannot relapse in our efforts. We call on government to marshal resources to ensure that the shutdown of the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah is handled effectively.”

Alhassan Iddrisu has meanwhile called on Government to increase the level of investment of Ghana’s oil revenue into key areas like health, agriculture and education.

According to him, this will help bridge the widening inequality gap in the country.

The latest Ghana Poverty and Inequality Report indicates that despite the gains made in reducing poverty, inequality continues to increase.

In an interview with Citi Business News, Alhassan Iddrisu stated that it was the responsibility of the government to lead efforts at lifting Ghanaians out of poverty.

“We have been advocating for investment of oil revenue in pro-poor sectors, like education, health and agriculture. Because we think that these types of investments have a wider effect on the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalized. Once we continue to invest in these sectors we’re sure we’re bringing everyone along, the privileged and those who are less privileged.  .”

Alhassan Iddrisu was speaking on the sidelines of a stakeholder engagement forum, on the theme “Addressing inequality in Ghana through equitable fiscal policies of government and harmonized national identification system.

The program saw presentations on topics like “Using a harmonized national identification system to address inequality” and “Addressing inequality through government fiscal policies.”

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By: Bobbie Osei/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Shutdown of FPSO K. Nkrumah mustn’t affect power supply – ACEP appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The Bank’s optimism is premised on its performance for last year (2017) where it recorded a profit after tax of 386.17 million cedis.

The Finance Director at Barclays Bank Ghana, Antoinette Kwofie disclosed this plan when she engaged journalists to explain the reasons accounting for the bank’s performance in 2017 on Thursday, March 29, 20180.

A year-on-year comparison of Barclay’s Bank’s financial results shows that between 2016 and 2017, Barclays bank’s profit went up by about 82 million cedis from the 304.53 million cedis recorded in 2016.

In 2017 also, the bank’s income such as interests on loans, as well as fees and commissions charged for use of ATMs for instance, went up 887.29 million cedis in 2017.

Equally, the bank spent a bit more on its expenditure including income taxes as well as personnel expenses in 2017.

Total expenses amounted to 337 million cedis in 2017 against the 291.79 million cedis recorded in the preceding year (2016).

Speaking to Citi Business News on the performance, the Finance Director at Barclays Bank Ghana, Antoinette Kwofie attributed the profitability to improved efficiency.

“This year you will see growth of 12.7 percent; between 2015 and 2016, you see a higher year on year growth compared to this figure. So the operational efficiency that we are putting in place to deliver better value to the customers and also to keep our cost within manageable range, is what is leading to the declining growth,” she stated.

Also, weighing Barclays Bank’s assets against its liability, which is the capital adequacy ratio, stood at 20.45 percent against 19.04 percent in 2016.

Meanwhile the Non-Performing Loan ratio stood at 13.6 percent compared to 19.17 percent.

Antoinette Kwofie also believes Barclays should sustain its strong performance and contribute to the new Africa Group brand, ABSA, later this year.

“Actually Ghana is one of the top three businesses outside of South Africa in the ABSA Group. In actual fact, of all the countries outside of South Africa, we were the most profitable in the group,” she added.

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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana

The post Barclays Bank Ghana posts GH¢386m in profits in 2017 appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.