Business stories that made headlines in week 1 of April 2020

Concerns over the growing global Coronavirus outbreak keeps riding down economic prospects.

While headlines have focused on stripped supermarkets, some companies have been quietly helping out local communities, despite facing ruin.

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 March 30 – April 3.

Government to utilize US$200 million from stabilization fund

Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has revealed that government intends to lower the cap on the Ghana Stabilization Fund (GSF) from the current US$300 million to US$100 million in accordance with Section 23(3) of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA).

According to him, the measure would enable the excess amount in the GSF account over the US$100 million cap to be transferred into the Contingency Fund (CF) consistent with Section 23(4) of the PRMA.

originally published by www.ghanaweb.com

ESLA issues highest-yielding Cedi bond

ESLA Plc has issued its highest-yielding cedi denominated bond yet, with maturity in December, 2031, and a pricing range of 20.50 percent to 21.00 percent.

Investors, last week over-subscribed the re-opening of the issuance of ESLA Plc’s 12-year cedi-denominated bond, which was originally issued on January 13, 2020. However the pricing reflects the tightening of financing conditions in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak – the record high yields for the latest issuance are coming barely a fortnight after the Bank of Ghana slashed its benchmark Monetary Policy Rate by 150 basis points to 14.5 percent, a move supposed to commensurately lower coupon rates on debt securities.

This constitutes Tranche E4-B under the GHS 10 billion bond programme.

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

Minority raises red flags over ‘legality’ of coronavirus National Trust Fund board

The Minority in Parliament has raised red flags over the appointment of the board of trustees for the Covid-19 National Trust Fund.

The bill setting up the fund was laid in parliament Wednesday and the House is debating it for approval.

The Bill, when passed into law, will give legal backing to the establishment of the Covid-19 National Trust Fund to complement the efforts of government in the fight against the disease.

The fund will receive donations for disbursement to individuals who have been negatively impacted by the disease.

The Bill will also make provisions for how the fund should be managed.

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

Use ECG power app to buy power and pay bills - ECG tells public

Mr. Benjamin Quarcoo, Western Regional Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has asked customers in the region to use its mobile app to buy power and pay bills.

He said in the wake of the mode of spread of the virus of COVID-19, the new app, would reduce the huge queues at the various offices to access their services.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, he indicated that the new smart meters come with Mobile Application (ECG Mobile App) which could be used to make payments on all postpaid metered accounts and selected smart prepayment meters in the system.

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

Govt runs to World Bank for $35m coronavirus fund

The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, last Saturday laid before Parliament a $35-million financing agreement for the Ghana COVID-19 emergency preparedness and response project.

The facility, if approved, will be provided by the World Bank Group as part of the $100 million the government is seeking from the group to bolster the country’s preparedness and response against the spread of the disease.

The agreement was laid on behalf of the Finance Minister by a Deputy Minister of Finance, Mrs Abena Osei-Asare.

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