DAILY GRAPHIC

The Graphic reports the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. John Abu as calling on governments in the West African sub-region to work in harmony to clear the obstacles which impede trade among them and thus, work against the achievement of the objectives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In a front page story the Graphic says Dr. Abu specifically mentioned the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme begun in 1978, which is the heart of the process set in motion to facilitate intra-community trade and the establishment of a Customs Union, and expressed concern that the scheme is still beset with problems. The Minister was addressing the opening session of the seventh Ghana International Furniture and Woodworking Industry Exhibition (GIFEX '97) in Cotonou, Benin. According to Dr. Abu, only a few states are applying the reduced tariffs which are critical for the successful implementation of the scheme and the problem is further exacerbated by lack of reliable trade statistics. GRI

"ECG, VRA in the red", is the headline of another Graphic front page story which says the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has made a net loss of 70 billion cedis this year as against 38 billion cedis last year. Besides, the paper says, the Volta River Authority (VRA) for the first time, has made a huge loss of about 39 billion cedis as at the end of September, this year. The Graphic says the gloomy picture of the two service providers came to light at the first regional tariff education campaign at Cape Coast in the Central Region. The campaign according to the paper, was jointly organised by ECG and VRA for opinion leaders. The Graphic says the Director of Finance of the ECG, Mr. C.S. Tetteh, speaking on the future of his organisation, painted a gloomy picture for the company if the present low tariffs are not reviewed upwards to enable the ECG to recover its cost and meet the growing needs of consumers. The Director of Organisational Services of the VRA, Mr. M.A.C. Addo, said pricing goes a long way to determine the success of any enterprise. He pointed out that this is not the case with the VRA, explaining that whereas the Authority spends 20 million cedis on oil for its Tema diesel generating plant for five hours, it receives only 2.3 million cedis because of the low tariff. GRI

In its centre spread the Graphic reports that a member of the Council of State, Mr. C. K. Dewornu, has stressed the need for church leaders to be actively involved in the public education on the Value Added Tax (VAT) He said as leaders of one of the most organised groups in the country, it is their responsibility to study the VAT system and disseminate the information to their congregation. Mr. Dewornu made the call at the inauguration of the Accra Central District of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Accra. He said the successful re-introduction of VAT would depend to a large extent, on the efforts and understanding of the tax system by large and organised groups like the church. GRI