Eurobond, improvement in energy sector shore up Ghana’s reserves to $5.7b

Ghana’s external reserves stood at $5.7 billion as of August 20, 2013, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Kofi Wampah, has announced.

This translates into more than three months of import cover, meaning that the country’s external reserves can pay for more than three months of imports.

Dr Wampah, who was speaking at the opening of the second Economic Policy Co-ordinating Committee Meeting in Accra yesterday, added that the current reserve level was an appreciation of the one recorded last month.

He said the country’s external reserves were $4.9 billion in July this year but rose to the current level due to the various gains chalked up in the economy over the period.

He attributed those gains to the numerous interventions the government introduced into the economy, such as the Eurobond and improvement in the energy sector.

The Economic Policy Co-ordinating Committee Meeting, which consists of representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the BoG, is the highest operational body in the economic management of the country.

The meeting provided a forum for the committee to review the economic performance of the country in the first half of the year.

It discussed the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) and the Eurobond issued last month and also looked at the 2014 budget.

The Vice-President, Mr Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, who opened the meeting, tasked major players in the economy to put in place programmes and policies that would propel the economy and improve the lives of the people.

He expressed delight at the gains made by the economy in the second quarter of the year and was of the strong conviction that the third and the last quarters would register even greater improvement in the economy.

“The first half of the year has been challenging, But the second quarter has been good and I hope the third quarter will witness a significant improvement over the previous ones,” he said.

Mr Amissah-Arthur urged the participants to take a critical view of the 2014 budget, “what is in store for the future and what we will do to achieve these”.

The Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper, said the ministry had directed ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to submit proposals for the 2014 budget.

He added that although there were some shortfalls in taxes in the first quarter of the year, indications were that “revenue will pick up in the next quarter”.

Source: Daily Graphic