Close Gap Between Prime And Base Rate

….AGI urges Bank of Ghana The Association of Ghana Industries has called on the Bank of Ghana to close the gap between the prime and base rates to make it easy for the industrial sector to acquire loans for their business operations.

The central bank reduced the prime rate from 14.5 to 12.5% last year. In view of the move by the Central Bank, commercial banks have also begun reducing their base rates.

But the President of the AGI, Mr. Tony Oteng Gyasi says the Central bank should legislate the difference between the prime rate and the base rates and find ways of closing the gap so that industries will find it conducive to get funds to support their industries.

Meanwhile, a survey on the business climate in the country has led the AGI to call on government to institute measures to solve the power crisis in the country since it was the major obstacle to the success of businesses last year.

The survey saw 73% of chief executives believing that the business environment will be conducive for businesses this year. 23% said the environment will be fair whilst 4% said the terrain will be poor. The AGI said government should solve extra generation from emergency sources within the next two to three months to solve the energy crisis.

They also called for a level playing field between imported products and locally made ones. It urged the Standards Board and the Food and Drugs Board to prevent sub-standards products from making their way to Ghana.