Bussiness
Fuel prices to hit ¢11 per litre from Wednesday, March 16
Prices of petroleum products will from Wednesday, March 16 experience a significant surge as consumers are expected to pay ¢11 per litre.
The Bulk Oil Distributors has blamed the situation on the volatility on the market as well as the rising cost of crude on the international market.
According to the Chief Executive, Senyo Hosi, the cedi which is depreciating among other major trading currencies is also a factor for the rise in the price of the commodities.
“This is not really with crude but with products on a metric tonne basis. You’re actually breaking the pair and likely breaking 11 as well, subject to which product and how the OMCs want to add some margins on their current prices.
“What you see from the OMCs publication is quite reflective of what the market situation is and I think a bit chunk of it has to do with some of the onset increase around our current cedi issues,” he said.
In an interview on Joy FM’s News Night, Monday, Senyo Hosi however noted that “the Central Bank has very proactive and cooperative with industry and we’ve been working on ways to help mitigate the impact on these key commodities.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has seen oil prices rise to their highest level in more than a decade and is on the verge of hitting new record, with crude prices predicted to reach as high as 185 dollars a barrel.
In its projections for the March 2022 Second Pricing Window, which will take effect from March 16, 2022, to March 31, 2022, the Institute for Energy Security (IES) has said the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will go up by 3 per cent whereas petrol and diesel would go up by 5 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) says the Oil Marketing Companies are not adjusting their pump prices beyond the indicative prices provided to the authority.
Communications Manager for the NPA, Mohammed Abdul-Kudus explained that “the review might be irregular but it is not illegal.”
“The OMCs and the fact they are buying it through the BDCs are minded by the consequences of the future and so you see the marginal review.”
Currently, petrol and diesel are selling at an average of ¢8.2 per litre at the pumps.
Before March 1, 2022, petrol and diesel traded at an average ¢7.50 per litre, representing an increment of 8.6 per cent in the just-ended pricing window.
In the March, 2022 First Pricing Window, the IES found that the Cedi depreciated by 4.82 per cent to close at GH¢7.17 to the Dollar from the earlier window’s rate of GH¢6.85 to $1.
With respect to the cost of fuel on the international market, the Institute found that the price of the international benchmark Brent Crude rose to 14-year highs within the period under assessment, reaching an average of $112.87 per barrel and representing an increase of 19.95 per cent over the previous window’s average price of $94.10 per barrel.
COPEC’s prediction
The Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC) has also projected that the price of diesel is likely to sell at over ¢10 per litre while petrol will cross ¢9 from Wednesday.
Source: www.myjoyonline.com
Bussiness
Ghana’s GDP shows economy is fast recovering despite DDEP – Finance Ministry
Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) indicates a rapid economic recovery despite global challenges and ongoing debt restructuring, according to the Ministry of Finance (MoF).
The Ministry in a statement today indicated that latest data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), cumulative economic growth for the second quarter (Q2) of 2024 reached 6.9%, a notable increase from the 4.7% recorded in the first quarter of 2024.
The MoF statement further noted that, “The economy’s robust recovery is in response to the macroeconomic stability and growth interventions that government is pursuing under our IMF-supported Post Covid-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG).”
According to them, the overall real GDP growth for the first half of 2024 rebounded strongly, with year-on-year GDP growth averaging 5.8% for the period, significantly higher than the 2.9% recorded in the same period in 2023.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme
Read full statement below
Bussiness
Facebook, Youtube, online trading companies must be taxed – Deputy Finance Minister
The Deputy Finance Minister Dr Alex Ampaabeng, has proposed that online trading companies should be taxed to bolster the economy.
He noted that these companies, both local and international, generate significant revenue from their Ghanaian clients, which underscores the necessity for taxation.
In an interview with Bernard Avle on Channel One TV’s The Point of View, Dr Ampaabeng pointed out various potential revenue sources for Ghana, including online businesses and content creation companies.
He questioned why other national companies operating in Ghana are taxed, but social media platforms like Youtube and Facebook, which run numerous advertisements, are not included in the Ghanaian tax system.
According to him, these social media companies earn profits from the advertisements they display, and online trading companies also generate income from the sale of their products and services.
He mentioned online trading companies such as Jiji, Jumia, and Tonaton, which he believes surpass all physical marketplaces in Ghana in size.
According to him, “I can’t think of a country which has not gotten a digital service tax system of some sort, so Ghana is long overdue. Just to make an example so that people will appreciate where I’m coming from. Go to Youtube and play a video, within one or two minutes, you are going to watch about two, or three adverts.”
“What it tells you is that Facebook or Youtube is making profits right here in Ghana. Go to your Facebook account, and you are going to see a number of adverts on your right, left. What it is telling you is that Facebook is making profits right here in Ghana and not being taxed. Meanwhile, there are companies operating in Ghana, for jurisdiction reasons, of course, that are being taxed,” he said.
The Deputy Minister added that “So then, it comes to the question of the application of our tax laws. Revenues generated in Ghana are subject to taxes. We have Facebook, TikTok and all those players, these are digital platform owners.”
He stressed, “Then we have the digital or market players, here we are talking about individuals who are using the digital platforms. We have Jiji, Jumia, Tonaton, these combined, are bigger than all physical marketplaces in Ghana. And it tells you the volume of transactions, that are going on there.”
He expressed his hope that individuals earning online profits from Ghanaian residents would be taxed.
“There are conversations ongoing, I wouldn’t want to pre-empt anything, maybe in the future, it might not be anytime soon, what I would like to see, is a Ghana where people who are earning all forms of profits in the country are subject to taxes. People who are trading online to Ghanaian residents, people who are generating revenue from Ghana are allowed to pay taxes,” he noted.
Additionally, he proposed a collaboration with the government to curb cybercrime by registering and verifying these online trading companies.
“We can have a system where the government engages these operators, so individuals will submit their Ghana Card and are registered and verified,”he concluded.
Source: Citinewsroom.com
