Former Attourney-General Betty Mould-Iddrisu is demanding an unqualified apology from the Education Minister for making comments she deems derogatory about his immediate predecessor.
Former Finance Minister Seth Terkper is mocking the NPP government for continuing to borrow despite assurances, while in opposition, that they would not borrow for development when in government.
A Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Dr Mohammed Ibn Chambas has advised African governments to tackle corruption head on to ensure efficiency and development within the continent.
Minority leader Haruna Iddrisu says the NPP government cannot take credit for ending dumsor because they have not added anything to the energy generation capacity.
The President has underscored the critical importance of women to development, saying that increasing their participation in decision-making engenders faster socio-economic gains.
Government, through prudent management of the economy has successfully reduced Ghana‟s debt burden. This was achieved as a result of a reduction in the fiscal deficit and a policy of debt re-profiling.
The Finance Minister has been outlining the government's budget for 2018 to parliament. Here are some key highlights of the budget under the theme “Putting Ghana to workâ€
MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE FOR 2017
Overall real GDP (as of June) 7.8% Non-Oil real GDP (as of June) 4.0% End-period inflation (as of October) 11.6% Overall budget deficit on cash basis as percentage of GDP(Sept) 4.5% Primary balance (Sept) 0.3% Current account balance (August) (0.2%) Gross International Reserves (import cover)-Sept 3.9% End year expected deficit 6.3%
2017 SECTOR GROWTH
Agriculture 4.3% Industry 17.7% Services 4.7%
EXCHANGE RATE DEVELOPMENTS -2017
Cedi/Dollar depreciation 4.0%
INTEREST RATE DEVELOPMENTS – 2017
91-Day 13.2%182-Day 14.1% 1-Year 15.0% Interbank Average 20.94% Average Lending rates to DMBs 28.97%
POLICY INITIATIVES FOR 2018
The Akufo-Addo Programme For Economic Transformation (Aapet) Financial Sector Initiatives Energy Sector Policy Initiatives Revenue Measures Expenditure Measures Voluntary Education Fund
OTHER INITIATIVES
National LPG Promotion Policy will be rolled out Electricity Tariff Reforms (Reduction) Residential - Up to 13% Non Residential - 13% Special Load Tariff- Low Voltage - 13% Special Load Tariff -Medium Voltage - 11% Special Load Tariff -High Voltage - 14% High Voltage Mines - 21%
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MACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCE FOR 2017
Provisional data on the performance of the economy from January- September, 2017 shows nearly all the macroeconomic indicators are on target. A summary of this performance is as follows:
Overall real GDP grew by 7.8 percent as of June against 2.7 percent in same period 2016. It is estimated to grow by 7.9 percent at end of 2017, up from the original forecast of 6.3 percent;
Non-Oil real GDP grew at an estimated 4.0 percent as of June 2017 compared to 5.9 percent in the same period in 2016. Non-oil GDP growth is estimated at 4.8 percent at the end of 2017;
End-period inflation was 11.6 percent in October, 2017 compared to 15.8 percent at the same period in 2016;
The overall budget deficit on cash basis was 4.5 percent of GDP in September, 2017 against a target of 4.8 percent of GDP and an outturn of 6.4 percent in the same period in 2016;
The primary balance posted a surplus of 0.3 percent of GDP in September, 2017, as targeted and is a significant improvement over a deficit of 1.6 percent realized during the same period in 2016;
The current account balance registered a deficit estimated at 0.2 percent of GDP in August, 2017 compared with 2.6 percent in August, 2016; and
The country‟s Gross International Reserves which stood at US$6.9 billion by end-September 2017, could cover 3.9 months of imports compared to the US$4.8 billion or 2.5 months import cover recorded in the same period of 2016.