Traders in the various markets in the capital have resorted to various strategies as they respond to the effects of last month’s petroleum price increments.
The traders' strategies, according to checks by the Graphic Business are in response to the surge in the prices of various goods which was induced by the January 4 petroleum price increments.
The Graphic Business realised that while some traders in the markets are costing their wares higher now than before and maintaining the quantities of those wares, some are doing the reverse, selling at the old prices but sliced the quantity of those same products downward as compared to their initial quantities prior to the increment.
A visit to the Kaneshie Central, Tema Station, and the Makola markets indicated that most of the traders who are into consumer goods, such as food vendors and those selling goods that do not have fixed quantities have reduced the quantity of those commodities but still sell at the initial prices.
The National Petroleum Authority, regulators of the nation’s petroleum industry on January 4 this year increased the ex-pump prices of petrol and diesel by 30 and 20 per cent respectively while citing the rising crude oil prices in the global market and the accumulating Tema Oil Refinery’s (TOR) debt as factors that necessitated the upward adjustment.
Following this, a gallon of gasoline (premium) moved up from GH¢5.26 to currently sell at GH¢6.84. That of diesel also moved up from GH¢5.31 to sell at GH¢6.91, while a kilogram of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) now sells at GH¢1.047 after the same quantity was initially sold at GH¢0.8381 prior to the increment.
These upward changes caused transport operators in the country to also adjust transport fares upward by 18 per cent across board.
As a result, the cost of transporting traders’ wares from wholesale destinations to their respective points also went up as the traders explained to this reporter.
Madam Elizabeth, a dealer in corn related products such as corn dough, gari and sugar at the Tema Station Lorry park said the wholesale prices of the products she deal in had risen following the increment.
According to her, the cost of transporting those goods to the market had also gone up causing her to reduce the quantity of the various commodities and in some cases, increase the prices.
A bag of maize, she said now sells at Gh¢ 80, a Gh ¢10 upward adjustment from its initial Gh¢70 price prior to the petroleum price increment, a situation she insisted caused her to reduce the quantity of corn dough offered at 50p.
The small alonka of gari which was sold at ninety pesewas now goes for one cedi with the price of the big alonka also stretching to two cedis from its initial price of one cedi eighty pesewas.
Though Madam Elizabeth thinks the stretch in transport fares had a direct response on prices of gari and maize, she also thought the seasonal nature of her commodities also had a hand in the price changes.
Seasonal commodities, she observed are subject to price flatuations depending on the time of the season and the nature of the harvest.
“Even if fuel prices increase, prices of seasonal commodities will still go up and come down”, Madam Elizabeth explained.
Mr Andrew Nartey, a patron of Madam Elizabeth’s corn dough also observed “the quantity of this one cedi corn dough has reduced. This, (then referring to a ball of corn dough in his possession) was sometime ago sold at fifty pesewas”.
The wholesale prices of rice had also gone up by an average of Gh¢10 which in effect induced retail prices of the various brands upward.
Though, most of the rice traders at the Tema Station Lorry park would not dismiss any direct effect of the petroleum price increases on the upward adjustments of rice prices, they insisted that the main cause of the price surge was due to taxes and the Ivoirian crisis.
According to Madam Akosua Ankah, a dealer in Uncle Sam, a brand of the Ricemaster mostly imported through Cote d’ Viore, a bag was initially selling at Gh¢ 13.50p but the crisis pulled it upward to currently sell at Gh¢15 per bag.
Prices of construction and manufacturing wares were also realised inching up following the increments.
Cement prices for instance went up by approximately Gh¢2 across the various dealers visited by the Graphic Business.
Though Ghana Cement Company (GHACEM), a major cement manufacturer in the country had not announced any price increases, most of the dealers told this reporter that the distributors who increased the prices cited last month’s fuel price increments as a factor.
Interestingly however, prices of fish and fish related products have also gone up despite the NPA's resolve to raise prices of premix fuel, a product used by fishermen for fishing, citing its economic implications on the fishing folks as the reason.
The price of sachet water, popularly called 'pure water' has also folded back to its normal five pesewas per one after it was sold at 10 pesewas in the early days of the increment.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Book on pensions launched
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| Dr Charles Andoh of the Department of Finance, UGBS launching the book while Mr Aglobi (right), Dr Yaw Baah, Dep. TUC Secretary General cheer on |
A 232-paged book on the country’s pension schemes and retirement planning has been launched in Accra.
Titled “Pensions: The New Investment Perspective for Retirement Planning”, it was authored by the Chief Executive Officer of the Advice Bank International, Mr Andrews D. Agblobi.
The writer is also a columnist with the Business and Financial Times newspaper, in which he has published over 40 articles on mortgage and pensions in the country.
According to the author, the 12-chapter book does a historic analyses of the development of pension in Ghana; from the CAP 30 through the Ghana Universal Salary Structure (GUSS) to the SSNIT scheme which was, last year, replaced by the new pension scheme.
Mr Agblobi expressed regret at the lack of indigenous books on the country’s pension scheme, a situation which compelled him to rely on foreign materials when he was doing a literature review on the subject of the book.
Mr Agblobi used the opportunity to call on all Ghanaians to take their pensions and retirement planning seriously by taking advantage of the voluntary pension scheme to contribute towards their retirement.
“The idea of pension”, he said, “is always to replace part of your earned income while working with regular monthly pension income until your death. It is always good to start planning early for your retirement so that in case you are knocked down one day, you can easily fall on your investments.”
According to him, the in-depth research and consultations that he undertook prior to coming out with the book make it a good reference material for persons seeking information on pensions and retirement planning in the country.
He maintained that “the aim of writing the book is not to make money but to motivate people to plan well towards their retirement and also to expose them to the country’s pension scheme.”
Dr Charles Andoh of the Department of Finance, University of Ghana Business School, also bemoaned the lack of writing habits among Ghanaians.
He said “most people in the country are authorities in various areas yet they refuse to write, making it difficult for their experiences to be shared with the young in society.”
The first copy of the book was bought for GH¢200 by the Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Dr Frank Odoom.
Ghana Revenue Authority exceeds 2010 target
Story: Charles Benoni Okine & Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
THE Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) managed to bag GH¢5.94 billion as of the close of December last year, marginally exceeding its annual target of GH¢5.92bn by 0.5 per cent.
The figure posted by the GRA, an integrated body of all the three revenue collecting agencies in the country, namely, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service, also represents a 23.6 per cent increase over the previous year’s figure.
The Commissioner General of the GRA, Mr George Blankson, announced this at a news conference in Accra yesterday at which he also took steps to outline a number of initiatives to ensure that the authority met its target of GH¢7.5 billion by the close of the year.
He said revenue collection from the customs side of the account fell below its annual target but it was explained that the shortfall was due to, among others things, the reduction in some petroleum taxes during the year.
For the breakdown, Mr Blankson said domestic taxes (direct tax), formerly IRS, bagged GH¢2,441.33 million, while domestic tax (indirect tax), then VAT, collected GH¢1,061.22 million.
He said Customs (including petroleum) collected GH¢2,442.15 million, representing a shortfall of approximately nine per cent.
“In spite of the shortfall from the Customs side, we managed to exceed our target and we are working hard through the measures we have to ensure that we exceed our target this year,” Mr Blankson gave the assurance.
On the other challenges that hit the GRA as a body last year, he said, “The task of pressing ahead with the reform, while keeping up with revenue collection, is like juggling two balls in the air.”
He said the authority also had to grapple with the various training sessions and workshops for staff of the integrated authority to keep them abreast of the processes.
On the way forward, he said the management of the authority was committed to ensuring that the two prongs of tax reform and revenue enhancement were kept in perfect balance and proceeded in tandem.
Mr Blankson said this year and beyond the performance of the managers would be measured on both scores.
“On agency-based institutional loyalties, it is heart-warming to note that labour leaders have already taken the first steps in unifying the labour front and merging staff associations,” he said.
The move, he explained, was to ensure industrial harmony which was key to ensuring that the work ahead of the authority was executed without any hitches.
He said the reform process aimed at putting revenue collection on a higher growth path in the long term would be supported by the short and medium-term measures put in place by the authority.
As a result, Mr Blankson said, the authority would intensify arrears collection, a responsibility that would fall under the ambit of the Debt Management team of the authority.
He said the GRA would also intensify tax audit, while ensuring the proper and effective management of information at the district office of the authority.
THE Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) managed to bag GH¢5.94 billion as of the close of December last year, marginally exceeding its annual target of GH¢5.92bn by 0.5 per cent.
The figure posted by the GRA, an integrated body of all the three revenue collecting agencies in the country, namely, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Value Added Tax (VAT) Service, also represents a 23.6 per cent increase over the previous year’s figure.
The Commissioner General of the GRA, Mr George Blankson, announced this at a news conference in Accra yesterday at which he also took steps to outline a number of initiatives to ensure that the authority met its target of GH¢7.5 billion by the close of the year.
He said revenue collection from the customs side of the account fell below its annual target but it was explained that the shortfall was due to, among others things, the reduction in some petroleum taxes during the year.
For the breakdown, Mr Blankson said domestic taxes (direct tax), formerly IRS, bagged GH¢2,441.33 million, while domestic tax (indirect tax), then VAT, collected GH¢1,061.22 million.
He said Customs (including petroleum) collected GH¢2,442.15 million, representing a shortfall of approximately nine per cent.
“In spite of the shortfall from the Customs side, we managed to exceed our target and we are working hard through the measures we have to ensure that we exceed our target this year,” Mr Blankson gave the assurance.
On the other challenges that hit the GRA as a body last year, he said, “The task of pressing ahead with the reform, while keeping up with revenue collection, is like juggling two balls in the air.”
He said the authority also had to grapple with the various training sessions and workshops for staff of the integrated authority to keep them abreast of the processes.
On the way forward, he said the management of the authority was committed to ensuring that the two prongs of tax reform and revenue enhancement were kept in perfect balance and proceeded in tandem.
Mr Blankson said this year and beyond the performance of the managers would be measured on both scores.
“On agency-based institutional loyalties, it is heart-warming to note that labour leaders have already taken the first steps in unifying the labour front and merging staff associations,” he said.
The move, he explained, was to ensure industrial harmony which was key to ensuring that the work ahead of the authority was executed without any hitches.
He said the reform process aimed at putting revenue collection on a higher growth path in the long term would be supported by the short and medium-term measures put in place by the authority.
As a result, Mr Blankson said, the authority would intensify arrears collection, a responsibility that would fall under the ambit of the Debt Management team of the authority.
He said the GRA would also intensify tax audit, while ensuring the proper and effective management of information at the district office of the authority.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Stanbic fund over subscribedStory
Story: Maxwell Adombila Akalaare
THE Initial Public Offer (IPO) of the Stanbic Investment Fund (SIF), closed early last month with over 171 per cent over subscription.
The fund is an open-ended unit trust, investing in fixed income securities and seeks to maximise short-term income as well as long-term sustainable returns and capital appreciation.
It had 200,000 units on offer with an initial offer price of GH¢1.00 per unit. The offer lasted from December 15, 2010 to January 6, 2011.
The Head of Stanbic Investment Services Limited ( SIMS), Mr Alex E Asiedu, a subsidiary of Stanbic Bank and managers of the fund told the Daily Graphic “the public responded positively to the IPO”.
“It was heavily over subscribed. As at the end of the IPO on January 6, 2011, it had been oversubscribed by 171 per cent”.
Giving the breakdown, Mr Asiedu said out of the 342 clients who bought into the fund, approximately 300 of them did so in their private individual capacities while the remaining, which he said constituted an insignificant figure were corporate institutions.
According to the head of the SIMS, the over subscription of the fund did not come as a surprise. “We knew it; because, there was a ready market for a tried and tested brand in investments and we knew that prior to launching,” Mr Asiedu explained.
The fund’s over subscription, he noted was also testimony to the fact that despite the numerous complaints from the public about low income, most people were still ready to invest part of their incomes for future use, adding “People are looking for investment products that would offer them higher interest but have lower risks”.
He stated that the subscriber base of the fund was currently moving towards a million after hitting 800, 000 last week.
“The size of the fund currently moving close to a million”, Mr Asiedu added and further promised subscribers that the fund’s resolved to ensure “ high yields and relatively low risks resulting from prudent management from the fund managers".
“We have started doing aggressive marketing and we are bringing the experience and track record that the Standard Bank Group has in fund managements world-wide to bear in managing this fund,” he added.
The Stanbic Bank Ghana is a member of the Standard Bank Group that, among other things manages over 60 billion funds world-wide.
The IPO of the SIF was launched on December 15 last year and ran for nearly a month. The fund which has Merchant Bank as its trustee is focused on fixed income funds.
THE Initial Public Offer (IPO) of the Stanbic Investment Fund (SIF), closed early last month with over 171 per cent over subscription.
The fund is an open-ended unit trust, investing in fixed income securities and seeks to maximise short-term income as well as long-term sustainable returns and capital appreciation.
It had 200,000 units on offer with an initial offer price of GH¢1.00 per unit. The offer lasted from December 15, 2010 to January 6, 2011.
The Head of Stanbic Investment Services Limited ( SIMS), Mr Alex E Asiedu, a subsidiary of Stanbic Bank and managers of the fund told the Daily Graphic “the public responded positively to the IPO”.
“It was heavily over subscribed. As at the end of the IPO on January 6, 2011, it had been oversubscribed by 171 per cent”.
Giving the breakdown, Mr Asiedu said out of the 342 clients who bought into the fund, approximately 300 of them did so in their private individual capacities while the remaining, which he said constituted an insignificant figure were corporate institutions.
According to the head of the SIMS, the over subscription of the fund did not come as a surprise. “We knew it; because, there was a ready market for a tried and tested brand in investments and we knew that prior to launching,” Mr Asiedu explained.
The fund’s over subscription, he noted was also testimony to the fact that despite the numerous complaints from the public about low income, most people were still ready to invest part of their incomes for future use, adding “People are looking for investment products that would offer them higher interest but have lower risks”.
He stated that the subscriber base of the fund was currently moving towards a million after hitting 800, 000 last week.
“The size of the fund currently moving close to a million”, Mr Asiedu added and further promised subscribers that the fund’s resolved to ensure “ high yields and relatively low risks resulting from prudent management from the fund managers".
“We have started doing aggressive marketing and we are bringing the experience and track record that the Standard Bank Group has in fund managements world-wide to bear in managing this fund,” he added.
The Stanbic Bank Ghana is a member of the Standard Bank Group that, among other things manages over 60 billion funds world-wide.
The IPO of the SIF was launched on December 15 last year and ran for nearly a month. The fund which has Merchant Bank as its trustee is focused on fixed income funds.
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