Business Articles
Fix The Cedi And Don’t “Worry” About The Launch Of Freedom Coin – Freedom Jacob Caesar To BoG
“Good morning Ghana our cedi is depreciating almost 8 cedis to a dollar. I think the Bank of Ghana has more to worry about than a Freedom coin that’s not even launched. 🤩”
His comments come after the BoG released a statement on Wednesday, March 9 about the yet-to-be-launched digital currency.
In the press release signed by the Central Bank’s Secretary, Sandra Thompson, explicitly cautioned Ghanaians to avoid dealing with the cryptocurrency, as it has not been approved to operate in Ghana’s financial system.
“It has come to the attention of Bank of Ghana that there is an impending launch of a cryptocurrency named “Freedom Coin”. The public is hereby cautioned that neither this cryptocurrency nor the promoting company has approval from Bank of Ghana to operate in the banking and payment sector,’” sections of the notice read.
In furtherance, BoG repeated in the statement that it has not approved the use of any cryptocurrencies in the country, and individuals trade in them at their peril.
“Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are not regulated under any laws in Ghana, and are therefore not backed by any guarantees or safeguards.”
“The general public” is therefore admonished “to exercise caution in respect of cryptocurrency transactions.”
According to Apex Bank, this directive is in agreement with notice NO.BG/GOV/SEC/2018/02, which is issued on 22nd January 2018. The notice can be found on the Bank’s website.
To conclude, the bank directed “all licensed institutions including banks, specialized deposit-taking institutions, dedicated electronic money issuers and payment service providers to refrain from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions via their platforms or agent outlets.”
Bank of Ghana’s Statement
Freedom Jacob Caesar is also an industrialist, philanthropist, and magnate in Ghana’s real estate. His Kwarleyz Group is the parent company for numerous brands such as, Belfast City & Property management, Petronia City Construction, and Wonda World Estates.
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Source : GhArticles.com
Business Articles
Salaries Paid Via MoMo Will Attract E-Levy – GRA Warns
The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has indicated that workers who receive their salaries through mobile money platforms will have E-Levy charges on them.
According to a Principal Revenue Officer and Head of the Project Management Unit at GRA, Isaac Kobina Amoako, workers should brace themselves for this, starting May 2022.
“… salaries are paid from their bank accounts onto mobile money platforms, the 1.50% fee will be deducted into the government coffers.”
The incident of the E-Levy charges on salaries paid via MoMo will be on the employer and not the employee.
He stated that this is because a portion of their money is expected to be affected by the recently passed E-Levy.
Mr. Amoako explained that the controversial E-Levy is structured so that tax is factored into all revenue mobilisation streams.
In an interview with Joy News, the GRA official added that the Authority is ready to implement the E-Levy from May 1.
The official further explained that the current framework created by the law as it stands does not distinguish a corporate mobile money account and an individual mobile money account.
“For the banks, the disbursements from corporate accounts were not mentioned so it is clear that one is exempt. But in the MoMo, there was no distinction between the corporate MoMo account and the individual MoMo account,” he told JoyNews.
He also revealed that this will also affect loan disbursement among other banking transactions.
He concluded by saying E-Levy will not be charged on salaries paid through the traditional way, i.e banks.
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Source: GhArticles.com
BUSINESS SPECIAL
Cedi Records 18.21% Depreciation To Dollar In Quarter 1; Ranked Among “Worst Spot Returns – Bloomberg
This still ranked the local currency as the worst among African currencies with the “Worst Spot Returns”. However, for the timely intervention by the Bank of Ghana, the situation could have been worse.
Despite the country benefiting immensely from the high price of crude oil on the international market and to some extent the favorable price of gold, the cedi has not fared well so far this year.
It came under severe pressure, particularly in the months of February 2022 and early March 2022. This was largely as a result of immense demand for the US dollar, as investors seek for dollar denominated assets, due to unfavorable ratings of Ghana’s economic outlook by rating agencies, Fitch and Moody’s.
Government had also faced stiff opposition in getting some revenue bills, particularly the Electronic Transaction Levy, from getting passed. Similarly, investors wanted some reassurance by government that it was committed to narrowing the fiscal deficit, whilst reducing arrears and the rising debt.
However, the E-Levy has since been passed, whilst the government had introduced fiscal measures to revive the fiscal economy. Coupled with the timely measures by the Bank of Ghana, this has since slowdown the rate of depreciation of the cedi against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the Angolan Kwanza is the best performing currency in Africa this year with an appreciation of 24% to the dollar in the first quarter of 2022.
It is followed by the South African rand with an appreciation of 9.38% to the dollar.
CURRENCIES WITH “WORST SPOT RETURNS” AT THE END OF QUARTER 1, 2022
RANKING | CURRENCY | YEAR-TO-DATE |
16th | New Sudanese pound | -2.08% |
17th | Ethiopian Birr | -3.89% |
18th | Liberian dollar | -4.94% |
19th | Sierra Leone leone | -5.10% |
20th | Mauritian rupee | -7.05% |
21st | Zambian kwacha | -8.02% |
22nd | Egypt pound | -14.27% |
23rd | Ghana cedi | -18.21% |
CURRENCIES WITH “BEST SPOT RETURNS” AT THE END OF QUARTER 1, 2022
RANKING | CURRENCY | YEAR-TO-DATE |
1st | Angolan kwanza | 24.2% |
2nd | South African rand | 9.38% |
3rd | Guinean franc | 4.40% |
4th | Botswna pula | 2.59% |
5th | Nigerian naira | 1.74% |
6th | Kenya shilling | 1.59% |
7th | Rwanda franc | 0.66% |
8th | Mozambique new metical | 0.19 |
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Source: GhArticles.com
BUSINESS SPECIAL
New Sachet Water Prices Takes Effect Today
According to the National Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers (NASPAWAP), the new price of packaged water is informed by the increasing cost of raw materials and fuel and the cedi’s depreciation.
Barring any hitches, a water sachet will be selling at ¢0.40, while the 500ml bottled water will be retailed at ¢2. From Friday, iced bottled water of 750ml or medium size will be sold at ¢2.50.
A bag of sachet water, 500ml by 30pcs, will be sold at ¢6 maximum from the retail trucks.
Mini shops, however, will retail the commodity at ¢8 per bag maximum. The 1.5L or large bottled water will be sold at ¢3.50.
President of the Asociation, Magnus Nunoo, has explained that most of the inputs and packaging materials which are mainly imported and produced from petroleum sources have seen price hikes.
“At our previous review, the dollar’s exchange rate was in the region of ¢6.50. Currently, it is inching up to ¢8.50. Fuel which forms a major cost of distributing the products to the market centres, has significantly gone up since our last review,” he noted.
He, however, cautioned that there might be slight variations in prices across the regions due to haulage to remote and distant areas.
The president further appealed to government to review the tax policies on packaged water industry to help reduce the financial burden to save the industry.
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Source: GhArticles.com