In business this week, flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has criticized the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, for refusing to answer the five questions he posed.
His comments come after Dr. Bawumia posed 150 questions to him and asked for a debate instead on the economy.
Reacting to this at a gathering in Savelugu on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, Mahama accused Bawumia of destroying the economy and urged him to address the issue to give Ghanaians some relief.
He asked Dr. Bawumia to explain to Ghanaians why the cedi keeps depreciating against major trading currencies, why inflationary pressure remains high, and why the country’s debt level keeps ballooning.
Mahama also stated that Dr. Bawumia needs to explain why the government borrowed GH¢42 billion from the Bank of Ghana and why he has "ditched" the economy to focus on digitalization.
On petroleum matters, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr. Mustapha Abdul Hamid, has said Ghana may soon source petroleum products from Nigeria’s Dangote Oil Refinery.
He explained that Ghana will import from Nigeria if the refinery has the capacity to produce 650,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Speaking at the OTL Africa Downstream Oil Conference in Lagos, Dr. Hamid said the move will bring down the prices of petroleum products in Ghana.
He noted that Ghana currently spends about $400 million monthly on fuel imports from Europe.
Meanwhile, Ghana’s local currency continues to experience persistent depreciation against major trading currencies such as the US dollar.
The cedi, which has been under pressure throughout the year, recorded relative stability in July this year, while inflationary pressures continued declining.
However, checks by GhanaWeb Business as of October 30, 2024, at 10:00 AM show that the cedi is trading at GH¢17.00 to the dollar, while the pound is trading at GH¢21.66 in some major forex bureaus across the country.
Additionally, the Euro is trading at GH¢18.07 on the retail market.
Ernestina Serwaa Asante hosted this week's BizHeadlines.
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