Report attributes foreign exchange shortfall to low disbursement

Accra (Greater Accra) 2nd July ?99

The 1999 first quarterly report on the review of the economy has attributed the shortfall in the country's foreign exchange receipts to low disbursement of funds.

The report, which was laid before Parliament on Wednesday, said total foreign exchange receipts by the Bank of Ghana during the period fell short of payments by 55.7 million dollars.

It noted that foreign exchange receipts, at 198.8 million dollars, was lower than projected.

The report said during the review period, total foreign exchange payments made by the Central Bank amounted to 254.5 million dollars, compared with the programmed payments of 262.1 million dollars.

It attributed the lower payments to low oil payments arising out of low world prices.

Loan repayments, on the other hand, were 104.9 million dollars.

The report said the net foreign assets of the Bank of Ghana declined to 98.5 million dollars at the end of the first quarter of 1999.

It said the decline resulted from a fall of 55.3 million dollars in the Central Bank's assets to a stock position of 452.4 million dollars and a decrease of 13.3 million dollars in liabilities to a stock position of 353.9 million dollars.

On external debt, the report said the country's indebtedness, including obligations to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), was estimated at 5,791 million dollars at the end of March, this year.

This stood at 44 million dollars lower than the position at the end of December last year.

The document said in the first quarter, debt service payments made through the Bank of Ghana, amounted to 115.2 million dollars, made up of 85.3 million dollars as principal and 29.9 million dollars as interest.