Business24 Newspaper (April 24-2020)

Page 1

EDITION B24 | 34

FRIDAY APRIL 24, 2020

THEBUSINESS24ONLINE.NET

Goldman Sachs predicts flat economy, EIU a contraction Gov’t should trim spending to navigate crisis, ranking member on finance says MORE ON PAGE 3

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has a lot to do to mitigate the impact of the virus and return the economy to a strong footing

BY NII ANNERQUAYE ABBEY

Goldman Sachs, the international investment bank, and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) have delivered grim forecasts of what will become of Ghana’s economic growth as a result of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic. The two institutions, in separate

0% -1% Goldman Sachs

EIU

assessments of the impact of the pandemic on the country’s immediate economic outlook, said GDP will at best record zero growth—below government’s hope of achieving a modest growth of 1.5 percent. With the pandemic hitting hard at government’s revenues, creating a MORE ON PAGE 2

UNIPASS not working— Freight Forwarders …despite government’s assurances

Procurement expert on Covid-19: Build robust industry, enforce local buying MORE ON PAGE 3

ECONOMIC INDICATORS *EXCHANGE RATE (INT. RATE) EXCHANGE RATE (BANK RATE)

USD$1 =GH¢5.6896* USD$1 =GH¢5.52.*

*POLICY RATE

14.5%*

GHANA REFERENCE RATE

15.12%

OVERALL FISCAL DEFICIT

6.6

PROJECTED GDP GROWTH RATE

1.5%

PRIMARY BALANCE.

-1.1% OF GDP

AVERAGE PETROL & DIESEL PRICE:

MORE ON PAGE 6

GHc 5.13*

INTERNATIONAL MARKET BRENT CRUDE $/BARREL

28.08

NATURAL GAS $/MILLION BTUS

1.75

GOLD $/TROY OUNCE

1,698.80

CORN $/BUSHEL

329.50

COCOA $/METRIC TON

2,368

COFFEE $/POUND:

+5.70 ($108.30)

COPPER USD/T OZ.

220.15

SILVER $/TROY OUNCE:

Copyright @ 2019 Business24 Limited. All Rights Reserved. Tel: +233 030 296 5297 editor@thebusiness24online.net

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