February 13
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Inside <strong>February</strong> <strong>13</strong>, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/12/18 7:17 PM Page 7<br />
12TH<br />
FEBRUARY<br />
2018<br />
MONDAY<br />
CURRENCY PARIS CODE BUYING SELLING<br />
US Dollar USDGHS 4.3600 4.5000<br />
RATES Pound Sterling GBPGHS<br />
6.0500<br />
6.2000<br />
Euro<br />
GBPGHS<br />
5.3800<br />
5.5500<br />
10<br />
DAILY HERITAGE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY <strong>13</strong>, 2018<br />
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH<br />
Gov’t explores Asian markets for<br />
sixth Eurobond sale – Govt sources<br />
GOVERNMENT<br />
OFFICIALS will<br />
meet investors in<br />
Asia this week to<br />
explore new<br />
markets for a $1<br />
billion Eurobond sale this year,<br />
government sources said on Friday.<br />
The major commodity exporter<br />
is seeking favourable terms<br />
for the bond, slated for April,<br />
amid market uncertainty fuelled<br />
by the likelihood of a United<br />
States Federal Reserve hike that<br />
could render sub-Saharan African<br />
debt unattractive.<br />
Finance Minister, Mr Ken<br />
Ofori-Atta and a deputy central<br />
bank governor will attempt to<br />
woo investors in Singapore and<br />
Hong Kong to the sale, which is<br />
Ghana’s sixth. Previous debt was<br />
sold mainly to investors in Europe<br />
and the United States.<br />
Analysts said Ghana’s move<br />
was unlikely to yield results as<br />
Asian markets target higher quality<br />
credits such as those offered<br />
by Gulf countries.<br />
“It’s an odd choice and we<br />
don’t see any interest from Asian<br />
accounts in African bonds,” a<br />
major Europe-based fund analyst<br />
told Reuters. If the Ghanaians<br />
succeeded, they would change the<br />
dynamics of the African bond<br />
market,” the analyst said.<br />
Ghana, which exports cocoa,<br />
gold and oil is in its final year of a<br />
$918 million credit deal with the<br />
International Monetary Fund to<br />
narrow deficit, inflation and public<br />
debt, which hit 68 percent of<br />
GDP last year.<br />
The government is yet to announce<br />
lead advisors for the 2018<br />
Eurobond sale, which it advertised<br />
in this year’s budget. –<br />
Reuters<br />
Ghana, which exports<br />
cocoa, gold<br />
and oil is in its final<br />
year of a $918 million<br />
credit deal with<br />
the International<br />
Monetary Fund to<br />
narrow deficit, inflation<br />
and public debt,<br />
which hit 68 percent<br />
of GDP last year.<br />
•Ken Ofori-Atta, Minister of Finance<br />
NPA to review 15% petroleum tax after fuel demo<br />
THE NATIONAL Petroleum<br />
Authority (NPA) says prices of<br />
petroleum products are likely to<br />
go down in the coming days.<br />
The Chief Executive Officer<br />
of the NPA, Mr Hassan Tampuli<br />
who hinted of the possible reduction<br />
attributed this to the decline<br />
in crude oil prices on the global<br />
market last week.<br />
The Chamber of Petroleum<br />
Consumers, Ghana (COPEC-<br />
Ghana) has threatened to engineer<br />
a nationwide protest should<br />
government fail to respond to<br />
calls for reduction in the cost of<br />
fuel within one week.<br />
They made the pronouncement<br />
last Wednesday after a<br />
protest in the capital-Accra that<br />
saw dozens, including the Industrial<br />
and Commercial Workers<br />
•Mr Hassan Tampuli, Chief Executive Officer of the NPA<br />
Union and several<br />
transport unions<br />
across the country<br />
demonstrating to express<br />
their displeasure<br />
with the fuel hikes.<br />
The demonstration,<br />
according to<br />
COPEC-GH was to<br />
force government to<br />
reduce taxes on petroleum<br />
products.<br />
But Speaking on<br />
Newsfile on Saturday,<br />
the NPA Chief Executive<br />
Officer said government<br />
had<br />
considered making<br />
proposals to make the<br />
Special Petroleum Tax<br />
a specific amount instead<br />
of a “percentage<br />
of ex-depot price”, so it does not<br />
trigger any future increases in<br />
prices.<br />
“One thing that we have all<br />
agreed on is that instead of making<br />
the Special Petroleum Tax a<br />
percentage of ex-depot price, we<br />
will rather make it a specific<br />
amount so that it does not compound<br />
any future increases in the<br />
prices and it will also help government<br />
to stabilise revenue when<br />
prices go down,” he explained.<br />
He added that the considerations<br />
may happen in the next<br />
pricing window indicating “as at<br />
yesterday [last Friday], we have<br />
been having meetings about when<br />
to do it. We didn’t need [the<br />
COPEC and ICU] demonstration<br />
to even let us know that is what<br />
we should do.”