Business stories that made headlines in week 3 of March 2020

Fears over the growing global coronavirus outbreak have sparked widespread economic worries and stocks market have being on the swings.

Except for grocery stores, other businesses deemed essential in running an individual’s daily affairs have seen quite an unsteady move.

Some of these high-profile stories filled the business pages for days. Others are likely to continue to dominate the news weeks after.

These are the top business headlines that continue to be read, shared and talked about from 16th – 20th March.

Below are the trendiest stories of the week

Bank of Ghana lowers policy rate over coronavirus outbreak

Bank of Ghana has cut its policy rate by 150 basis points to 14.5 percent over fears the coronavirus outbreak could slowdown economic growth in 2020.

In a release after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee, the bank said its initial assessment of the domestic economy showed that the pandemic could impact Ghana through a number of channels.

Read the full story originally published by GNA

Ghana’s public debt stock hits GHS218 billion in December 2019 class Ghana’s public debt stock hit GHS218.0 in December 2019, according to the March 2020 Summary of Financial and Economic Data released by the Bank of Ghana today.

This is about 63% of Gross Domestic Product.

Out of this, external debt constituted GHS112.5 (US$20.3 billion). This represented 32.5% of GDP.

GHS105.5 was borrowed from the domestic market, representing 30.5% of GDP.

Currently, external debt was GHS7 billion more than domestic debt.

Read the full story originally published by classfmonline.com

Coronavirus: Free MoMo transfer of GH¢100 and below to start Friday

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has announced that there will be no charges on all mobile money transfers of GH¢100 and below from both banks and mobile network operators for the next three months.

This new policy which is subjected to review will commence Friday, March 20, 2020.

BoG noted that the policy applies to money transfers to recipients on either the same network or sent to another network using the interoperability platform. Cash out have been excluded from this service.

In a statement issued by the central bank, it stated that “the Bank of Ghana has agreed with banks and mobile network operators on measures to facilitate more efficient payments and promote digital forms of payments for the next three months, subject to review, effective March 20, 2020.”

Read the full story originally published by www.ghanaweb.com

Over $8 million used to print new cedi notes - Finance Minister Ghanaweb

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has revealed that a total amount of US$8.98 million was used by the Bank of Ghana to print the new GH¢100 and GH¢200 notes.

Addressing Parliament on Tuesday, 17th March 2020, he explained that the figure is made up of US$4.45 million and US$4.53 million for the two notes respectively.

“Mr Speaker currency management falls within the domain of Bank of Ghana. Information obtained from the Bank of Ghana shows that the cost of printing the GH¢100 and GH¢200 notes is US$8.97 million.”

Read the full story originally published by www.ghanaweb.com

IMF to help low-income member states with $10bn at zero interest rates to fight coronavirus

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has disclosed that it stands ready to offer $10 billion to low-income member states at zero interest rates to help them combat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Fund said the move could provide about $50bn to emerging and developing economies, while up to $10billion could be made available to the IMF’s low-income members through its concessional financing facilities, which carry zero interest rates.

Read the full story originally published by www.ghanaweb.com

BoG outlines new directives for banking operations amidst coronavirus outbreak

The Bank of Ghana has issued interim directives to guide the operations of financial institutions as the country has been hit with covid-19.

All Banks, Savings and Loans Companies, Finance Houses, Microfinance Institutions, Rural and Community Banks and Foreign Exchange Bureaux are the entities to observe the new rules.

According to the Bank of Ghana, it will “continue to assess the possible impact of the pandemic on the domestic economy and is taking the necessary steps to mitigate its impact, to ensure financial and economic stability.”

Read the full story originally published by www.ghanaweb.com