The Association of Oil Marketing Companies (AOMC) has conducted a surprise inspection of fuel stations and LPG refilling plants in the Ashanti Region. 

The exercise dubbed “Mystery Shopping”, led by AOMC CEO Dr. Riverson Oppong, is to ensure compliance with industry standards for safety, customer service, and overall operations. The inspection team, including AOMC Head of Compliance & Operations Tizard Ansah and Compliance Officers Billey Al-Assad and Courage Agblevor, meticulously evaluated various aspects of the facilities.

Beyond the usual checks on fuel pumps and dispensers, the team assessed staff friendliness, knowledge, and professionalism, as well as the cleanliness of customer service areas and tank farms. Safety was a top priority. The team observed staff adherence to safety protocols, including the use of proper gear and the availability of essential safety equipment like fire extinguishers and spill kits.

 Compliance with National Petroleum Authority (NPA) guidelines was strictly monitored. To gain deeper insights into the industry’s challenges, the AOMC team engaged with station managers to understand operational difficulties and areas needing improvement. 

The AOMCs is committed to using the findings to develop training programs, enhance customer service, and improve safety standards across the entire downstream petroleum industry.

“This mystery shopping program is a significant step towards creating a benchmark for the industry,” said AOMC CEO. Dr. Riverson Oppong. 

 “By prioritizing customer experience, compliance, and operational efficiency, we aim to benefit consumers through improved service, a safer environment, and consistent quality standards.” he added. 

The AOMCs believes a well-regulated petroleum industry is vital for economic growth and job creation. By boosting consumer confidence and attracting investments, the association aims to contribute to increased employment opportunities in the sector.

More Stories Here

Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam says the government has implemented effective measures to achieve fiscal consolidation, economic stability, and growth, resulting in better than expected outcomes.

Speaking at the Mid Year Budget Review 2024 in parliament on July 23, 2024, he highlighted some key achievements, which include a 4.7% growth rate for the first quarter of 2024, a decline in inflation to 22.8% by June 2024, a stabilised exchange rate with an 18.6% depreciation against the US dollar, and increased gross international reserves covering 3.1 months of imports.

According to him, over the past six months, expedited government programs and growth-enhancing initiatives have led to significant progress. The second review of the extended credit facility with the IMF resulted in a $360 million disbursement. Debt restructuring efforts included a $5.1 billion program with the Official Creditor Committee of Ghana, leading to $2.8 billion in debt service relief, and successful negotiations with Eurobond holders and independent power producers.

Dr Amin Adam emphasised that the expenditure control within the 2024 budget and exceeding the mid-year non-oil revenue target by 3.7% have put the government on course to achieve a primary surplus of 0.5% of GDP by year-end. Also, major reforms in state-owned enterprises, particularly in the energy and cocoa sectors, aim to ensure fiscal prudence. Support programs such as SME Go, LEAP, the School Feeding Program, and the NHS have provided substantial financial and technical aid.

Additionally, infrastructure development remains a priority, with nearly $10 billion invested in the road sector and significant progress on various projects. Digitalization efforts include a $135 million investment in the National Identification Program.

The government continues to engage stakeholders to bolster cooperation and understanding, focusing on prudent expenditure management, improved revenue mobilisation, and investment in physical and digital infrastructure to drive economic growth.

More stories here

Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has announced that the economy is recovering at a fast and strong pace.

Speaking at the mid-year budget review on July 23, 2024, he stated that the government has successfully reversed the negative trends in the economy.

Dr. Adam emphasised that it is evident that we are on the right trajectory and the economy is rebounding stronger than anticipated.

“The choices we have made and the policies we are implementing are yielding results. We have reversed the negative trends, and all indicators are looking better. I want to assure you that we will stay on this path and continue to make the right choices. Our economic recovery is fast and strong.”

He highlighted that the government has brought urgency and speed to the implementation of key programs over the last six months, providing necessary support for growth-enhancing initiatives.

Notably, the government has completed a debt restructuring program with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), securing approximately $2.8 billion in debt relief.

Dr. Adam also announced that the government has successfully concluded the second review of the Extended Credit Facility with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), resulting in a disbursement of $360 million, bringing the total to $1.6 billion.

Furthermore, negotiations with five Independent Power Producers have been concluded, leading to expected savings of $6.6 billion over the lifetime of the Purchasing Power Agreements (PPAs).

More stories here

The Minority leader in Parliament, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has criticised government’s 2024 Mid-Year Budget Review, asserting that it fails to outline a clear strategy for addressing the country’s current economic difficulties. 

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, July 23, Dr. Ato Forson expressed his disappointment with the Finance Minister’s presentation, describing it as “uninspiring” and devoid of a substantive plan to tackle the pressing issues facing Ghanaians. 

“As we just listened to the mid-year budget review from the Minister responsible for finance, you agree with me that typical of this government, this address was uninspiring, fails to offer a roadmap for addressing the country’s challenges,” the Minority Leader stated.

According to Dr. Ato Forson, Ghanaians had expected the government to remove several taxes, including the COVID levy, e-levy, ‘borla’ tax, tax on domestic electricity, and emission levy, in order to provide relief to businesses struggling to stay afloat. However, the Minister’s review did not address these concerns, which the Minority Leader sees as a “missed opportunity.” 

“Ghanaians expected that the government would have removed a number of taxes because businesses are packing out of the country. This is a missed opportunity. They are bereft of ideas, you are on your way to opposition,” Dr. Ato Forson asserted.

While the Finance Minister cited ongoing fiscal consolidation measures and highlighted improvements in key economic indicators such as GDP growth and inflation, the Minority Leader argued that the review lacked concrete plans to address the high cost of living and other pressing issues facing Ghanaians. 

Dr. Ato Forson contended that the government has exhausted its ideas to revive the economy and that Ghanaians were hoping for more decisive action to alleviate the current hardships.

More stories here

The Finance Ministry will not service any debt to its official creditors from 2023 to 2026 following the successful completion of the Debt Restructuring programme with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), covering US$5.1 billion dollars resulting in approximately 2.8 billion US Dollars of debt relief.

According to the Sector Minister, they have also concluded negotiations with their Eurobond holders, covering 13.1 billion US Dollars, which will lead to a cancellation of 4.7 billion US Dollars of the debt and provide debt service relief of 4.4 billion US Dollars between the same period, (2023 and 2026).

The Finance Minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam also told parliament that, “we have successfully concluded the second review of the Extended Credit Facility with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which led to the disbursement of the 3rd tranche of 360 million US Dollars, bringing total disbursement to about US$1.6 billion”.

He announces “we have concluded our negotiations with five (5) of the seven (7) Independent Power Producers, which will lead to a saving of some of US$6.6 US Billion over the lifetime of the Purchasing Power Agreements (PPAs);

We have reined in expenditures to ensure we are within 2024 Budget Appropriation and exceeded the midyear revenue target by 0.2 percent by end-June, 2024”.

The Minister who was quite happy with the figures said, “Speaker, it is evident that we are on the right trajectory” and “the economy is rebounding stronger than anticipated”.

He said the choices and policies they have made and are implementing and are yielding results as he again announced “we have reversed the negative trends; all the indicators are looking better. I want to assure you that we will stay on this path and continue to make the right choices. Our economic recovery is fast and strong”.

The new Minister over the last six months, have sought to bring some urgency and speed to the implementation of key government programmes and also swiftly provided the necessary support for growth-enhancing initiatives including major reforms of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), especially those in the Energy and Cocoa sectors, to be fiscally prudent and reduce their risk on the budget.

More Stories Here

Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, Minister for Finance and MP for Karaga has announced that, Ghana’s Growth continues to exceed our expectations as he reported 4.7 percent growth rate recorded for first quarter of 2024 exceeds the revised target of 3.1 percent.

He also said the headlined Inflation has declined from about 53 percent to 22.8 percent by June, 2024-a reduction of 31 percentage points since December 2022, “confirms the target threshold of +/-2 of 15 percent by end 2024 is possible”.

The minister also noted that, the exchange rate has largely stabilized, compared to December, 2022, despite the recent pressures, “the 18.6 percent depreciation rate to the US Dollar as of June 2024, represents an improvement over the 22.0 percent recorded for the same period last year”.

Presenting the 2024 mid-year fiscal policy review to parliament, the Finance minister mentioned the fact, “the last two years, the Government has embarked on a number of decisive measures to get us back on the path of fiscal consolidation, economic stability and growth. I am happy to note that these policies that we have implemented are yielding the expected results”.

Ghana’s Gross International Reserves reached 3.1 months of import as at end June 2024 against 2.5 months of imports in the same period last year.

More Stories Here

Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam has announced that the exchange rate has largely stabilized compared to December 2022, despite recent pressures.

Speaking at the Mid-year budget review on July 23, 2024, Dr. Adam explained that the 18.6% depreciation rate against the US Dollar as of June 2024 represents an improvement over the 22% recorded for the same period last year.

He also noted that the Gross International Reserves reached 3.1 months of import cover as of June 2024, up from 2.5 months in the same period last year.

Dr. Adam stated, “The exchange rate has largely stabilized compared to December 2022, despite recent pressures. The 18.6% depreciation rate against the US Dollar as of June 2024 is an improvement over the 22% recorded for the same period last year.

Additionally, our Gross International Reserves have increased to 3.1 months of import cover as of end-June 2024, up from 2.5 months in the same period last year.”

The Finance Minister also expressed optimism about Ghana’s economic growth, noting that the 4.7% growth rate reported by the Ghana Statistical Service for the first quarter of 2024 exceeds the revised target of 3.1%.

He further highlighted that inflation is declining, indicating a positive trend for the economy.

More Stories Here

Rather, implement measures to make Ghana’s tax regime fit-for-purpose to engender compliance and increase domestic revenue.

Dr Alex Ampaabeng, a Deputy Finance Minister, said this at the launch of the World Bank’s eighth Ghana Economic Update in Accra on Monday, July 22, indicating that there could be a likely downwards revision of expenditure.

The report, themed, “Strengthening domestic revenue systems for fiscal sustainability”, focuses on medium-term economic outlook and potential risks going forward.

It also provides solutions to enhancing macroeconomic management and accelerating progress towards a sustainable and inclusive growth through stimulating stakeholders’ dialogue on economic issues and policy trade-offs.

“The mid-year budget is not bringing any new taxes, and there will not be supplementary budget… in fact, our expenditure, without pre-empting anything, is likely to be revised downwards,” Dr Ampaabeng said.

He said the current economic environment required support to businesses, and echoed government’s commitment to protecting the economy by charting a sustainable fiscal path to make Ghana a gateway and the preferred trade and investment destination in Africa.

Dr Ampaabeng said the Ministry was working actively with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), the country’s revenue mobilisation agency, on data cleansing to identify taxpayers and make them pay appropriate taxes.

“What we’re doing now is to have accurate data on who is doing what. With the digitisation of addresses, linking of Ghana card with bank accounts and businesses, it’s much easier to access taxpayers,” he said.

Meanwhile, some experts have encouraged the government to streamline tax and revenue handles, and ensure a full implementation of policies under the ongoing US$3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan-supported programme.

Trade, industry, academia, and Ghana’s Diplomatic Corps have also called for long-term national solutions to stabilise Ghana’s economy, including improving efficiency in revenue collection and legislation to cap government borrowings.

Mr Stefano Curto, Lead Economist for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, at the World Bank, stated that Ghana’s macroeconomic situation had improved considerably over the past year.

“However, the sustainability of these efforts hinge on a fundamental aspect – enhancing the country’s tax revenue while minimising the impact on growth and the poor and most vulnerable,” he noted.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Abeku Gyan-Quansah, Director, Tax Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers, urged that tax and revenue laws be implemented effectively, while making payment friendlier to businesses.

“If you introduce a law which will virtually kill somebody’s business, that person will either not do that business at all and you don’t get the money, or the person will do the business and find ways around the tax that you’ve introduced,” he said.
“The Value Added Tax (TAX) is troubling; why should we have a law with six different rates?” He quizzed.
Such a system, he said, only created complexities to do business with, and called for urgency in addressing the challenges in the VAT and other tax handles to increase compliance.

Dr Nii Kwaku Sowa, Economist, Country Director, International Growth Centre (IGC-Ghana), called for the streamlining of tax exemptions and retention policies, which he said had over time, been to the disadvantage of the country.

Speaking at the maiden Ministry of Finance Quarterly Economic Roundtable dialogue, earlier in July, he said the government should particularly consider the exemptions in the mining and construction sectors and make them beneficial to the country.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Abeku Gyan-Quansah, Director, Tax Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers, urged that tax and revenue laws be implemented effectively, while making payment friendlier to businesses.

“If you introduce a law which will virtually kill somebody’s business, that person will either not do that business at all and you don’t get the money, or the person will do the business and find ways around the tax that you’ve introduced,” he said.

“The Value Added Tax (TAX) is troubling; why should we have a law with six different rates?” He quizzed.
Such a system, he said, only created complexities to do business with, and called for urgency in addressing the challenges in the VAT and other tax handles to increase compliance.

Dr Nii Kwaku Sowa, Economist, Country Director, International Growth Centre (IGC-Ghana), called for the streamlining of tax exemptions and retention policies, which he said had over time, been to the disadvantage of the country.

Speaking at the maiden Ministry of Finance Quarterly Economic Roundtable dialogue, earlier in July, he said the government should particularly consider the exemptions in the mining and construction sectors and make them beneficial to the country.

Mr Irchad Razaaly, the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Ghana, also asked the government to double up efforts to make the business climate in the country friendlier.

“We’re here to support the local value addition scheme and we want to be given the opportunity to do more,” Mr Razaaly said during at a government engagement with the international community, and trade and industry captains in May 2024.

Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, Finance Minister, in accordance with Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921), would present the mid-year budget review to Parliament, which would be his first, since assuming office as Finance Minister in February, 2024.

The review would provide an update on the implementation of the 2024 budget, with insights into the economic and fiscal performance for the first half of the year, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Monday.

It would highlight budget implementation for the rest of the year and a possible review of proposed policies on growth with a focus on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) growth.

It would also apprise Parliament on the implementation of the ongoing US$3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan-supported Post Covid-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG).

The PC-PEG is the country’s homegrown policy aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability, debt sustainability, and ensuring inclusive growth in the face of the country’s recent economic crisis.

SOURCE: GNA

More Stories Here

The report highlights the steady progress Ghana has made over the past year in addressing severe macroeconomic imbalances that emerged in 2022.

The report indicates that the economic situation has been improving in line with targets due to efforts to restore fiscal and debt sustainability, reduce inflation, and strengthen financial stability. Due to the lingering effects of the macroeconomic challenges, growth in 2023 was low at 2.9 percent albeit higher than initial projections, while inflation declined to 23.2 percent in December 2023 from a peak of 54.1 in December 2022. This progress is attributed to the Bank of Ghana’s former monetary policy and more stable exchange rates. 

“Ghana’s macroeconomic crisis in 2022 has set back poverty reduction efforts, with poverty levels estimated at 30.3% in 2023. It is crucial to maintain the momentum of the reforms, while mitigating the impact on the poor, to help sustain Ghana’s economic rebound. In parallel, we must lay the foundations for more sustainable and resilient economic growth by implementing comprehensive structural reforms to foster economic diversification and promote long-term inclusive growth,” said Michelle Keane, World Bank Acting Country Director for Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

The report also underscores the need to focus on the quality of the fiscal adjustment to minimise the impact on growth, the poor, and the vulnerable population. Recommendations include reestablishing the fiscal rule, strengthening public financial management, and accelerating revenue mobilisation to restore macroeconomic stability and support long-term sustainable growth. In addition, the report highlights the importance of sector-specific reforms to ensure financial sustainability in agriculture and energy and rebuild capital buffers in the financial sector.

The World Bank says structural reforms will be key to revitalise growth and foster economic diversification and transformation.

For example, improving infrastructure quality and accessibility can boost trade, competitiveness, connectivity, and productivity. Facilitating access to long-term financing and improving the business climate could create a conducive environment for private sector growth. Building human capital and improving service delivery for underserved regions and populations can enhance productivity and attract both Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and local investment in high-value, labour-intensive manufacturing and services.

“These measures collectively aim to enhance fiscal transparency, accountability, and resilience, ensuring sustainable economic growth; and should be complemented by initiatives to expand targeted social protection programs to promote social inclusion,” said Kwabena Gyan Kwakye, author of the Economic Update

The special topic of the report focuses on domestic revenue mobilisation, noting that Ghana’s tax collection has been low relative to its peers. Between 2017 and 2021, Ghana’s average tax collection was 13.2 percent of GDP, well below the Sub-Saharan Africa average and 8 percentage points short of the country’s estimated tax capacity of 21.2 percent of GDP. The report identifies areas of inefficiency within Ghana’s tax policy framework and compliance mechanisms. If addressed, these could help ensure macroeconomic stability and generate resources necessary for sustainable long-term growth and poverty reduction efforts.

Despite efforts in 2023 and 2024, bold tax policy measures and tax administration reforms are necessary to improve Ghana’s fiscal position and budget credibility. The adoption of an ambitious Medium Term Revenue Strategy for 2024-2027 lays a foundation for even more robust reforms towards fiscal stability and economic prosperity. Areas the report identifies where this could be enhanced include rationalising large tax expenditures, which have contributed to the overall decline of tax revenues. This would require striking the balance between reducing revenue losses and the potential distributional and social impacts.

“Rationalizing Tax Exemptions will entail removing those deemed to be unjustified or falling short of their stated goals. The Ministry of Finance should first assess the impact of Tax Exemption removals on poverty – and suggest appropriate mitigating measures,” said Elijah Gatuanjau Kimani, co-author.

More stories here

Dr Amin Adam would do so for the first time since assuming office as Finance Minister in February, 2024, and in line with Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921).

The review would provide an update on the implementation of the 2024 budget, with insights into the economic and fiscal performance for the first half of the year, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

The statement noted that there would be updates on growth measures, revenue, and expenditure performance, financing, debt sustainability.

It would also apprise Parliament on the implementation of the ongoing US$3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan-supported Post Covid-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG).

The PC-PEG is the country’s homegrown policy aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability, debt sustainability, and ensuring inclusive growth.

The Ministry indicated that the review would also highlight budget implementation for the rest of the year and a possible review of proposed policies on growth with a focus on SME growth.

Again, a status on the implementation of key government programmes, revenue measures, and expenditure controls, and financing adjustments based on the half-year performance would be provided.

Already, Dr Alex Ampaabeng, a Deputy Finance Minister, has stated that there would be no supplementary budget as well as no new taxes in the upcoming mid-year budget review.

That, he said, was to support the business community, creating the enabling space for them to thrive.

More Stories Here