Ghanaian press spotlights expected hike in fuel prices, others

APA– Accra The report of expected increase in fuel prices despite some marginal reductions over the past two weeks on the world market and the increase in market activities recorded by the Ghana Stock Exchange in the month of July over the previous month are some of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday. “Between the current first pricing window…

APA – Accra (Ghana) The report of expected increase in fuel prices despite some marginal reductions over the past two weeks on the world market and the increase in market activities recorded by the Ghana Stock Exchange in the month of July over the previous month are some of the leading stories in the Ghanaian press on Tuesday.

The Ghanaian Times reports that the prices of fuel are expected to go up in the country despite some marginal reductions over the past two weeks on the world market.

A statement issued by the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) yesterday and signed by the Executive Secretary, Duncan Amoah, said fuel prices were likely to increase by 5.5 per cent despite some marginal reductions on the world market.

“Between the current first pricing window and the next fuel pricing window of the month August, which commences from tomorrow, August 16, 2022, Crude oil price has seen a drop by 4.53 per cent from $110.52 averagely to $105.51 per barrel, whilst that of finished products (petrol and diesel) have declined by an average of 7.5 per cent, Petrol:* $1,010.15 per metric tonne, (down by 8.11 per cent), diesel: $1,032.00 per metric tonne (down by 7.25 per cent),” COPEC, said.

COPEC said the forex market has unfortunately however, been pretty turbulent over the period with the cedi depreciating steeply by as much as about 17.342 per cent to close trading at about GH¢9.8313 per dollar.

It said considering that there was no new tax rebate, the projected average prices of Petrol and Diesel would likely be as follows GH¢10.959 per litre-11.55 per litre with diesel moving from 13.3 per litre-13.965 per litre, all indicating about 5.5 per cent price increase across board over the current mean window prices.

COPEC said petrol which is currently selling at GH¢10.95 per litre was likely to be sold at GH¢11.65 per litre from August 16, 2022 whilst Diesel selling at GH¢13.30 per litre was likely to be sold at GH¢13.97 per litre.

The Chamber indicated that for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Prices window, the international price was estimated to hit $620.00 metric tonnes (down by 0.04 per cent) and for that matter, the price of LPG was expected to have remained unchanged but for the drop in the dollar exchange rate, the price of LPG was likely to go up by 10.306 per cent to sell at around GH¢9.58 per kilogramme.

The newspaper says that the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) saw an increase in market activities in the month of July as the volume, value and transactions on the bourse soared over the previous month.

The volume of shares traded on the Accra bourse increased to 64,332,881 in July from 48,234,978 in June, representing an increase of 33.37 per cent, while the value jumped to GH¢61.5 million in July from GH¢45.3 million, representing a growth of 35.87 per cent.

Compared with value and volume traded the same period last year, the volume of shares traded stood at 64,332,881 and valued at GH¢61,493,287.83, which both went up186.89 per cent and 82.65 per cent respectively on volumes and values traded same period last year.

“Cumulative volume (1,155,403,902) and value (GH¢1, 123,088,148.49) traded for the year represent an increase of 230.56 per cent and 229.13 per cent over the same period last year,” the GSE said in the July monthly summary of activities, copied to the Ghanaian Times.

The total market capitalisation fell from GH¢64.9 million in June this year to GH¢64.4 million in in July, representing a drop of -0.71 per cent, while the GSE Composite Index closed in July at 2518.86 from 2545.48 in June.

However, the GSE said the equity market closed the month with the Composite Index and Financial Stock Index recording negative returns of 9.7 per cent and 2.24 per cent respectively.

The Graphic reports that a Ghanaian cosmetic manufacturer, JRA Cosmetics is putting in place the necessary impetus to take advantage of the 1.2 billion market presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Already, the company into the production of skin care, hair care and disinfectants had invested more than GH¢2 million in technical infrastructure and state of the art technology to support its production line.

It has also established a dedicated desk on AfCFTA to help the company strategise for the market.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of JRA Cosmetics, Jane Reason Ahadzie, made this known in an interview with the media after receiving two awards at the sixth Global Business Quality Awards and Summit held in Accra.

“We are currently waiting to see the AfCFTA come to realisation so we can join in and contribute to the efforts of Africa being its own producer and supplier of cosmetics and household detergents,” she said.

She added: “It is our belief that we can reduce the huge funding of the government in the importation of consumer goods in the country, a situation that is affecting our Ghanaian cedi and bringing economic hardship on the locals.”

The company’s two products received prestigious awards at the Global Business Quality Awards and Summit.

The JRA Bone to Bone Balm was adjudged as the Best Quality Indigenous Herbal Healing Ointment of the Year while the JRA Lion Antiseptic was named the Best Quality Antiseptic Brand of the Year.

The newspaper says that the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Board has approved the disbursement of a GH¢10 million grant to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to help strengthen the operations and investigations of the office.

Consequently, the central bank signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the investigative body in Accra yesterday, August 15, 2022, to guide the latter in the disbursement of the fund.

The Governor of the BoG, Dr Ernest Addison, signed on behalf of the bank, while the Executive Director of EOCO, Commissioner of Police (CoP) Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, signed for the organisation.

The money will be disbursed in two tranches.

The first tranche of GH¢5 million is to be disbursed immediately to augment EOCO’s operations, especially with regard to investigations into the financial clean-up reforms.

Dr Addison said the chunk of the money would be used to investigate cases related to the financial sector clean-up exercise that started in 2017 and ended in 2020, during which eight banks, 23 savings and loans companies and more than 400 specialised deposit-taking institutions (SDIs) were collapsed.

He said the exercise brought to the fore the critical role of EOCO in uncovering financial crimes and ensuring that perpetrators were brought to book.

The newspaper says that the Ghana Football Association (GFA) has extended the registration window for the 2022/23 season for one more week.

The transfer window for the betPawa Premier League, Malta Guinness Women’s Premier League and the Division One League (DOL), which was originally scheduled to close on Monday, August 15, 2022, has been extended to enable clubs to complete all pending registration and transfers.

The registration window is now expected to close on the midnight (23:59GMT) of Monday, August 22, 2022.

Clubs are to note that there shall be no further extension as the new deadline shall be enforced strictly.

The opening of the window is in accordance with the GFA Regulations which makes provisions for the opening of a main registration window before the commencement of the football season.

All participating clubs of the betPawa Premier League, Malta Guinness Women’s Premier League and the Division One League are therefore reminded to complete their registration before the new deadline.

Regional Football Association clubs (2nd Division League, 3rd Division League, Regional Women’s Division One League and all Juvenile (U-17, U-15 and U-13 clubs) are to note that this extension does not affect the deadline of the lower League registration window.