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Ken Ofori-Atta

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We won’t approve 2022 budget if… – Minority Ken Ofori-Atta
Politics

We won’t approve 2022 budget if… – Minority

The Minority in Parliament have threatened not to approve the budget statement for the 2022 fiscal year if the Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta fails to show how the 2021 budget was spent. Member of Parliament for Asawase, Muntaka Mubarak, said it was necessary for the government to tell the people of this country how the previous budget was utilized. The Finance Minister Mr Ofori Atta is scheduled to present the budget statement in Parliament on Wednesday November 17. Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, had said Parliament would start the debate on the budget from Monday, November 22, and conclude on Friday, November 26, 2021. Speaking in an interview with TV3, Muntaka Mubarak said “ This budget, we have sent signal that if you don’t bring the details on how you spent the 2021 budget you are going to have it very difficult with us getting approval for 2022. —3news Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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2022 budget: Professor Ransford Yaw Gyampo sent strong message to Ofori-Atta Ransford Gyampo
Opinion

2022 budget: Professor Ransford Yaw Gyampo sent strong message to Ofori-Atta

Professor Ransford Yaw Gyampo, the Secretary of the University of Ghana branch of the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), has sent a strict warning to Mr. Ken Ofori Atta, Ghana’s Finance Minister as he planned to present the 2022 budget statement a few days ahead. Apexnewsgh.com report Prof Gyampo insisted in his letter to the Finance Minister that enough provision must be made for University teachers. An Open Letter to the Finance Minister, Dear Sir, 1. As you prepare to read the budget for 2022, I respectfully urge you not to do any such presentation without factoring the poor Conditions of Service of University Teachers. One of the abused refrain used in countering our demands this year, has been the mantra that “we did not factor UTAG demands in the 2021 budget”. 2. Now, sir, you have the opportunity to consider and adequately provide for our needs. Kindly be reminded that, we went on strike this year because, we only wanted government to restore us to the salary values of 2013. As you may be aware, in 2013, the entry point monthly salary of a University Lecturer was a pittance hovering around USD 2,084. In 2021, the same lecturer is paid around USD 997. The demand of lecturers this year, has been a simple restoration of the 2013 salary values. 3. It is my plea that you do not go present eloquent figures for all sectors and forget about the main demand of University Teachers. The MoA signed to increase annual research allowance (not monthly salary) to USD 1600, which works out to about only USD 130 a month top up of our research allowance, has been rejected by UTAG members. Please be reminded that research allowances are not salaries. They are monies to undertake research to discover knowledge to aid teaching. Also, no serious researcher discovers anything with USD 130 a month. 4. Our silence now, is only strategic. We have been concerned about the plight of our students and parents, hence decided not to abandon them mid-stream in the academic year. Now many of them across the country are on vacation and Legon, the Premier University vacates this month. It is our hope that all interventions including adequate budgetary provisions would be made to cater for the very small demands of University Teachers. 5. I respectfully urge you not to go present figures that improve the Conditions of Service of your colleague political appointees and their article 71 office holders and get others to plead with University Teachers to accept to live in poverty and poor Conditions of Service. Sir, it won’t work this time. 6. We will vacate and reopen no more if you treat us with contempt and disrespect once again. Given the increased trust deficit, please be assured that no amount of appeal from whatever quarter would get us to rescind our decision, should we strike again. The last resort may be to get the very moribund National Labor Commission to send us to court again and to seek our imprisonment. People died to build this country for us and we are willing to go to prison just to secure the interest of the future generation of University Teachers. 7. So, sir, by all means, please go ahead and present the budget. But be mindful of the indubitable value of industrial harmony in shaping the success of whatever purpose your budget seeks to achieve. Many thanks. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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Release GETFund monies to enable them pay contractors – Ofori-Atta told Ken Ofori Atta
Education

Release GETFund monies to enable them pay contractors – Ofori-Atta told

Member of Parliament for Buem, Mr Kofi Adams, has asked the Finance Minister Mr Ken Ofori-Atta to release funds to the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) to enable them pay contractors. According to him, the inability of GETFund to pay the contractors has resulted in abandoned projects all over the country. Mr Adams explained that it came out from a meeting officials of the GETFund had with Parliament that the Ministry of Finance had failed to release their funds. He noted that despite government using GETFUnd as collateral for loans, works continue to stall on educational projects. He told TV3 in an interview that “Unfortunately, contractors who we thought would be paid out of this seven billion [facility] that was raised through this means are still complaining of not being paid and looking at from last time till now. “If we will continue to have a situation where these very contractors are not returning to site because they feel that they are owed for works already done and certificates so presented. “It is unfortunate because the thinking was that with that huge resources available now, we will be able to complete all these projects. But that it is not happening and the funds now have to be paying every other time for these very facility that has already been taken  but we are not seeing the effect of this  facility  in the completion of projects. That is why I am particularly worried. “The last time GETFund came to parliament it looks more like it was the Ministry of Finance that is not releasing the moneys to them,” he said. Last week, the Minority in parliament served notice that they would initiate a probe into a $1.5 billion security that was approved for the GETFund to undertake completion of critical educational facilities. Parliament in 2018 approved the $1.5 billion loan for the GETFund to support the development of educational infrastructure. This was amidst objections raised by the Minority. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawmakers insisted that they could not back the loan agreement because they were unaware of the lender of the facility. Dr. Anthony Osei Akoto, the then Minister of Monitoring and Evaluation, said the minority members had been informed about the lender. He went ahead to announce to the House who the lender was – CAL Bank. “Mr Speaker, let us be honest with ourselves, other than that, we will be setting examples that we cannot continue to follow” he added. But the minority, despite boycotting the passage, say they will probe this loan facility. Dr Clement Apaak, Deputy Ranking member, Education Committee of Parliament told journalists after a tour of some uncompleted projects in the country on Tuesday October 19 2021 that “We are all aware of the inadequacy of infrastructure which is why the obnoxious double track system was introduced. “So, when we have structures like this, 90 per cent complete, at a cost of 9 million cedis  and yet we cannot complete it for students to have access to education , for classroom sizes to be reduced, for  communities to have hope  that their wards are going to benefit from the free senior high school, clearly, we cannot forgive government. “Because the 1.5 billion dollars that GETFund was securitised to obtain  was supposed to help complete what they themselves described as essential educational  infrastructure and they  indicated in their memo  to parliament  to that was to address the increased number of students who have come on stream as a result of the coming into being of the free SHS policy, so why is this here. “Is it that we don’t have the money? What have they done with the 1.5billion that we securitised the GETFund for? Is it not time they come to parliament to account for how many of the critical educational infrastructure they have completed so that we know there is value for money in a community such as this which doesn’t even have a secondary school. Is it fair?” —3news Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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Government payroll is full, 60% of revenue paying 650,000 people – Ofori-Atta Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta
Business

Government payroll is full, 60% of revenue paying 650,000 people – Ofori-Atta

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has informed the 2021 graduating class of the University of Professional Studies-Accra (UPSA) that the government’s payroll is full – making it unsustainable to keep adding to employment figures in the public sector, hence the need to create their own jobs. According to him, the government’s role is to create the needed enabling environment, establish micro-stability and ensure that citizens have the right skill set – and that is what the government is going to do: focus on the youth and budget for their demands. “The future for you in regard to jobs is the most important thing for you at this stage, and we have gone through a period when most people look for a job from government or state institutions, but that payroll is full. “I can tell you that because we are spending about 60 percent of our revenue on renumerating some 650,000 people, and that is not sustainable,” he said. The finance minister further indicated that entrepreneurship, skillset and credit are the important things needed in the mix to ensure sustainability for the youth and offer them an opportunity to create their own path to wealth. According to the minister, education is a ladder to social mobility as well as economic and social prosperity, offering beneficiaries the opportunity to help society – adding that it is important for the graduates to acknowledge the privilege of accessing four years of tertiary education and do their best to impact society through the transformation and renewal of their minds. Chief Executive-Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), Dr. K.K. Sarpong, in his address at the graduation ceremony, emphasized that it is important for the graduates to acquire 21st-century skills and core competencies which will enhance their employability and advancement in career. He emphasised that, currently, industries search for graduates who have more than a university degree, as they consider life-skills such as creativity, innovation, critical-thinking, collaboration, teamwork, communication, empathy and digital literacy, among others, as essential skills for effective individual performance. “These life-skills underpin the abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that aids in dealing effectively with the challenges of everyday life, particularly work. It is therefore important that graduates acquire life-skills as mentioned,” he said. Dr. K.K. Sarpong further singled-out digital literacy and indicated that this is an era of digitisation wherein automation, artificial intelligence and the use of software has dominated the delivery of accounting and financial services, hence the need for them to equip themselves with these skills to stay relevant on the job market. He further stated that outsourcing of functions such as procurement, payroll, taxation, pensions and benefits, recruitment and training has become a new normal under COVID-19, hence the need for them to respond swiftly to that trend. “I encourage you to set up your own firms to tap into the growing outsourced financial and business services. Be entrepreneurial, for your training here has given you what it takes to do that,” he said. The Vice-Chancellor of UPSA, Prof. Abednego F.O. Amartey, indicated that for the 2020/2021 cohort UPSA is graduating a total of 3,640 students – comprising 793 postgraduates, 2,054 undergraduates and 793 diploma students. He entreated them to be worthy ambassadors of the school, exhibiting the values and tenets imbibed in them. “As a marketer, my parting words to you are remember these four Ps – be positive, principled, proactive and productive,” he said. —thebftonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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Over 6,000 Ghanaian lawyers, doctors evading tax — Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta
Business

Over 6,000 Ghanaian lawyers, doctors evading tax — Finance Minister

Over 6,000 Ghanaian lawyers and doctors are not paying taxes, this is according to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta. The country’s purse holder made this revelation in an interview on Asaase Radio where he also disclosed that 60,000 business people have been evading tax, per an exercise conducted by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). “…We went through the exercise to sort of titrating to see what we’ve got, and we got about 60,000 businesspeople who were not paying taxes…some 5,000 or 6,000 lawyers are not. Some doctors [are not paying income tax]…so you begin to see all of these professionals, all of us on social media ranting against the government and [realise] that most of these people are not even paying taxes,” Mr. Ken Ofori-Atta shared. Having established that fact, he said Ghanaians should stop lashing out at government when things are hard as he encouraged businesses and the citizenry to at all times comply and pay taxes to help in the execution of projects and policies to develop the country. According to Ken Ofori-Atta, the current revenue target of the GRA gives him hope that government will be able to carry out projects to develop the country. “If GRA is telling us that we are targeting GHC57 billion for this year, it means that if you have half of that – let’s say GHC30 billion – another GHC30 billion is sitting there somewhere in the wings. “Now that’s an enormous amount of resources that we can tap into, to be able to fund development projects. And that’s what gives me the excitement and hope that we can really fund this development [agenda]. The exciting thing, after four years of the administration and being given the mandate for another four years, is that a lot of learning has occurred,” the Finance Minister noted. Ken Ofori-Atta concluded, “usually when we talk about compliance people are quite cynical about that: can GRA step up their game and do much better? So, structurally, we are changing. And thanks to the vice-president’s push on digitization, we are getting there.” —Eric Nana Yaw KwafoPlease contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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Mid-Year Budget Review: One million jobs for youth coming – Ofori-Atta Ken Ofori-Atta
Politics

Mid-Year Budget Review: One million jobs for youth coming – Ofori-Atta

The government has outlined plans to create about one million jobs as part of a three-year strategy to address youth unemployment in the country. The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta made this known during his presentation of the mid-year fiscal policy review to Parliament on Thursday July 29, 2021. According to him, though government through its flagship programmes like the 1 District 1 Factory (1D1F) and Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) has created significant number of jobs, the issue of youth unemployment in the country still persist and it is thus putting measures in place to create more and better jobs for young Ghanaians, both in the public and the private sectors of the economy. He said: “I have had extensive discussions with my colleague Ministers of Employment and Labor Relations, Youth & Sports and Lands & Natural Resources. These conversations culminated in a comprehensive strategy to sustainably address youth unemployment. New programmes will be introduced and existing ones scaled-up and refocused to meet the aspirations of our youth. “We will work together to sensitize and connect the youth to the numerous opportunities being made available by Government programmes, including a 3-year strategy to create job opportunities for 1 million Ghanaian youth. There are currently about 5 on-going programmes through which we intend to create these jobs,” he said. Although the economic disruptions occasioned by the COVID-19 has led to more people losing their jobs, Mr. Ofori-Atta said government’s plan to reboot the economy and set it back in motion through the Gh¢100 billion Ghana CARES ‘Obaatanpa’ revitalization programme will be vital in the country’s journey towards the creation of this 1 million jobs. This he said will help accelerate competitive import substitution and export expansion to generate sustainable jobs for the teeming youth (under 35 years), which constitutes about 71% of the population. Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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Mid-year budget: Ghana’s economic recovery is around the corner – Ofori-Atta Ken Ofori Atta
Politics

Mid-year budget: Ghana’s economic recovery is around the corner – Ofori-Atta

Government says there is evidence to back its claim that the Ghanaian economy has started recovering from the shocks it suffered as a result of the Covid-19 global pandemic. Per the Mid- year budget read by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, there was growth averaged 7% in the 1st three years of the Akufo-Addo administration until Covid hit and slowed it down to about 1% in 2020. Prior to COVID, he said about 3 million jobs were created while the private sector also expanded and created more jobs. While the predicted economic slowdown has caused discomfort for some Ghanaians, government says early evidence in the 2021 macro data shows the recovery borne out of its interventions have started bearing fruits. He said this during his presentation of the mid-year fiscal policy review to Parliament on Thursday, July 29, 2021. He said government’s transformation agenda is “very much on course.” Data from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicate that the Ghanaian economy expanded by 3.1% in the first quarter of this year, the lowest since the same period in 2019. The Bank of Ghana Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) attests to the strong growth recovery, with the index growing at 33.1 percent at the end of May 2021 compared to a contraction of 10.23 percent at the end of May 2020. According to the Minister, it is in view of this that the GhanaCares Obaatanpa programme was launched in November last year with an audacious GH¢100 billion revitalization of enterprise support scheme. The first phase of the programme which was rolled out last year builds on actions already taken by government, including stabilization of the economy, ensuring food security, support businesses and workers, strengthening the health system and passage of legislations to facilitate quick economic recovery. The second phase, which aims at revitalizing and transforming the economy from 2021-2023 will focus on supporting commercial farming and attracting educated youth into agriculture, building Ghana’s light manufacturing sector and several other sectors. This the Minister said: “since the turn of this year, we have been purposefully pursuing the second phase of the Ghana CARES programme to revitalize the economy and set it on track for transformation. As already articulated, our approach under this programme is to revitalize the private sector in targeted sectors to fast-track competitive import substitution, export expansion and the creation of decent jobs for our youth in a commercial environment that is increasingly regionally integrated.” He said to fully operationalize the programme, government has put in place a well-thought-out implementation and coordination framework with a functional and staffed GhanaCARES Coordinating Office within the Ministry of Finance. Additionally, he said a GhanaCARES Delivery Units (including sector specialists from the Private Sector) have been activated in all participating Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MDAs). Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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Akufo-Addo trips: I can’t tell you cost; go to Nat’l Security for it – Ofori-Atta swerves Ablakwa again Mr Ablakwa claims the 9-day trip cost the state £345,000
Politics

Akufo-Addo trips: I can’t tell you cost; go to Nat’l Security for it – Ofori-Atta swerves Ablakwa again

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has said President Nana Akufo-Addo’s trips are a matter of national security and, thus, any questions regarding the cost of such trips should be directed at the Ministry of National Security. “Mr Speaker, the president’s domestic and international travels are matters of National Security”, Mr Ofori-Atta told parliament on Wednesday, 21 July 2021, adding: “The National Security Minister is best placed to furnish this Honourable House with the details needed.” He said in line with the 2021 budget implementation instructions, “the Ministry of Finance did not release any funds to the Chief of Staff, especially for His Excellency, the President’s trip to France, Belgium, and South Africa”. Mr Ofori-Atta was expected to give an account of how much was expended by the state on President Nana Akufo-Addo’s nine-day international trip a few weeks ago. When he appeared in parliament in mid-June for that purpose, Mr Ofori-Atta asked the house to give him more time to gather his figures so he could account to the people of Ghana about the trip to France, Belgium and South Africa. The question was filed by North Tongu MP Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul answered his part of the question on Wednesday, 16 June 2021 on the floor. While answering the question, Mr Nitiwul said Ghana’s presidential jet is not fit for purpose for President Nana Akufo-Addo’s international trips, thus, the president’s resort to chartering a private jet. The Bimbilla MP said: “This aircraft will carry a load of 11 persons minus the crew. When this aircraft is travelling to the eastern part of the USA or Asia, it will not load a crew of more than eight plus the luggage”. “So, it depends on where it is going”, he noted. Secondly, he added, “I have also said the aircraft has to do refuelling stops and, also, in this COVID-19 [era], when you are travelling to multiple destinations like the president’s recent travels, the Falcon couldn’t have been taken because he would have had to do technical stops, which are not desirable”. “And when he is travelling with more than 20 people like he has been doing for business trips that brought huge sums of money to this country, he will need more than just a Falcon, otherwise, the others would have to go a day ahead before the president to prepare themselves.” “In fact, the president would also have to go a day ahead because no president can shower in this aircraft. He cannot move from this aircraft straight into a meeting”, Mr Nitiwul said. A few weeks ago, Mr Ablakwa accused the president of spending GHS 2.8 million on the trip. In the heat of the controversy, the Minority in Parliament said President Akufo-Addo could have used Ghana’s “airworthy” presidential jet, Falcon 9Gexe, instead of chartering the £15,000-per-hour “lavish, ostentatious and extravagant” AJC320neo flight he recently used for his 9-day trip abroad that cumulatively cost the Ghanaian taxpayer £345,000 (GHS2,828,432.80). “Today, we want to present to you further evidence that we are definitely certain that the presidential jet is available, in good shape”, Mr Ablakwa told journalists on Friday, 28 May 2021. According to him, on 11 May 2021 – five days ahead of his 9-day trip – the president used the presidential jet to Uganda to attend the ceremony swearing-in of President-elect Yoweri Museveni. Denying claims that the Falcon cannot travel long hours without refueling, Mr Ablakwa said the president’s Uganda trip on the presidential jet was 5h:4m while his Paris trip took six-and-a-half hours. “The Minority insists that the Falcon could have been used”, Mr Ablakwa stressed. “One, the Falcon is airworthy and it took this same president to Uganda only a few days prior to the 16th of May when the president departed to Paris with this rather luxurious monster; the most outstanding, extravagant, luxurious airbus aircraft to be manufactured – the Airbus AJC320neo, which originally was manufactured to take 150 people at the minimum but it has been reconfigured to take only 17 people so a luxurious empire can be created”, he said. In the Minority’s view, instead of the president using the chartered flight, which has a master bedroom, an en-suite bathroom with showers, dining facilities for all 17 passengers and sophisticated IT connectivity installations, he could have opted for other chartered flights from the same company, Acropolis Aviation. “First of all, our contention is that the Falcon is available”, he stressed, emphasising: “It’s airworthy”. “If it can take you to Uganda safely, it can take you to Paris safely and Brussels, Belgium safely”, he argued. “So, the point we are trying to emphasise is that in this time of austerity, where the president himself has said: Times are rough; let’s bear with him’, … the president himself embarked on this trip to go and beg for debt forgiveness and this is how you go and beg for debt forgiveness when the person you are going to beg for debt forgiveness from doesn’t travel in such luxury, in such ostentation”, noting: “The level of extravagance, the extreme opulence that the president displayed is condemnable, unconscionable”. “How do you think these western leaders will perceive African leaders? No wonder they have very little respect for a lot of our leaders but we cannot continue this way”, Mr Ablakwa said. —Classfm Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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We built a resilient economy before Covid-19 – Ofori-Atta Ken Ofori-Atta
Politics

We built a resilient economy before Covid-19 – Ofori-Atta

The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has said the government built a resilient economy before the country was hit by the deadly Covid-19 pandemic. “Ghana went through the headwinds and built a resilient economy which grew at an average 6% in the three consecutive years prior to the pandemic,” he told CNN’s Richard Quest in an interview on Friday. Amidst the global pandemic, Mr Ofori-Atta said the Ghanaian economy has leapt to become a hub for investment in the region. “Ghana has been a pillar of stability, a legacy Nkrumah started in 1957. We are currently the headquarters of [the] African Continental Free Trade Area, which is the next wave of independence with regard to trade and investment. And you note that Twitter was able to come here [Ghana] as a result of this type of aggressive outward position that we’ve taken. “We know Twitter decided to come here because of the aggressive outward position. We will continue to create a great business environment where assembling and manufacturing of VW and Toyota cars solidify our position as the gateway to Africa,” he told Richard Quest. —Kasapafmonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093

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Finance Ministry punches Adongo, ‘he got his math, finance wrong on Databank, Black Star firms’
Opinion

Finance Ministry punches Adongo, ‘he got his math, finance wrong on Databank, Black Star firms’

The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has stated that Databank and Black Star Brokerage form part of some nine firms that have been selected by the Bank of Ghana and Ministry of Finance as Bond Market Specialists. The seven other firms include Ecobank, Stanbic Bank, ABSA, Cal Ecobank, Stanbic Bank, ABSA, Cal Bank, GCB Bank, Fidelity Bank and IC Securities. A statement issued by the Ministry on 1 June 2021 in reaction to claims by Bolgatanga Central MP Isaac Adongo that Databank and Black Star Brokerage, owned by the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta and Minister of State-designate at the Finance Ministry, Mr Charles Adu-Boahen, respectively, have been appointed advisors to the Ministry, said the opposition lawmaker got it wrong. The statement explained that the selection of the nine firms was solely based on their historical performance on the bond market. It said “both Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen are no longer involved, in any way, with the day-to-day operations of either Databank or Black Star. Mr Adu Boahen resigned from the Board and from management of Black Star back in January 2017, immediately after he was nominated by the President as one of his Deputy Ministers of Finance”. “He also transferred his shares in the company to a family trust on assumption of public office. Mr Ofori-Atta resigned as Executive Chair of Databank in August 2012 and resigned from all the Databank Boards in February 2014”. The statement further debunked claims that “the three advisors, including Databank and Black Star, stand to make more than GHS210 million in fees”, describing the assertion as “inaccurate, misleading and intended to procure cynicism against the process”. In his article, Mr Adongo said “Ken Ofori-Atta and Charles Adu Boahen have contracted their own companies to be transaction advisors to themselves and decided how much they should pay their own companies”. “This transaction is tainted with potential insider-trading and conflict of interest. They killed competition and set a new low in fiduciary standards and an empty lawyer is celebrating this new normal?” Read the Finance Ministry’s full statement below: Response to social media article on firms of Ofori­-Atta, Adu Boahen appointed advisors to Finance Ministry The attention of this Ministry has been drawn to an article circulating on social media headlined, ‘Firms of Ofori Atta, Adu Boahen appointed advisors to Finance Ministry’. The story relates to the development of Ghana’s domestic market for government bond issuance which is a key debt strategy in accordance with Section 58 of the PFM law and a recent public notice issued by the Bank of Ghana titled “Licensed Primary Dealers (PDs) and Bond Market Specialists (BMSs). This Ministry would like to state that the selection of the Primary Dealers [PDs] and Bond Market Specialists [BMSs] is an automatic process based on market performance and historical secondary market trading activity which is publicly available and cannot be manipulated by the Ministry of Finance [MoF] or the Bank of Ghana [BoG]. Since 1996, the Ministry of Finance with the Bank of Ghana has developed and implemented various policies which affect the issuance and trading of Government of Ghana debt securities (Treasuries and Bonds). The ultimate objectives of these policies are to develop an efficient fixed income market, strengthen the capacity of local institutions and deepen financial intermediation. Based on this background, this Ministry would like to clarify the matters arising as follows: 1. It is our understanding that the firms in question that the story refers to are Databank and Black Star Brokerage. The Ministry would like to state that the claim that these two firms have been appointed as advisors to the MoF is incorrect. 2. Databank and Black Star Brokerage are two (2) out of nine (9) firms that have been selected by BoG/MoF as Bond Market Specialists and not Advisors to MoF, the other firms selected to be BMSs are – Ecobank, Stanbic Bank, ABSA, Cal Bank, GCB Bank, Fidelity Bank, and IC Securities. As stated above, the selection of the firms was solely based on their historical performance on the Bond Market and no other consideration. 3. Primary Dealers (PDs) are institutions authorised by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) and have the exclusive right to participate in the wholesale auctions of Treasury Bills. Bond Market Specialists (BMS) are PDs that have the exclusive right to participate in the sale, distribution and primary issuance, by auction or otherwise, of all GoG Treasury bills, notes and bonds. The selection process for firms to act as PDs and BMSs is based only on merit. The Ministry of Finance or the Minister and/or his Deputies have absolutely no hand in the selection process. The process cannot also be subject to any manipulation as it is based solely on historical data of trading and performance which is a matter of public knowledge on the bonds market. 4. The key criteria for the selection of the nine firms was based on secondary market fixed income trading operations. This benchmark is critical for market making in bonds and was instrumental in the selection of the 9 firms out of the 17 PDs for the additional role of BMS. The nine firms have been categorised as follows; international banks (not less than 3 firms), domestic banks (not less than 3 firms) and non-bank financial institutions (not less than 3 firms). 5. Secondary Market fixed income trading data for non-bank financial institutions, which is publicly available put Blackstar Securities as the highest trader by value for the period of assessment. IC Securities and Databank placed second and third in the rankings respectively. This information is publicly available from the GSE but for ease of reference has been reproduced here. 6. It is the opinion of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana that this selection process rewards meritocracy, ensures transparency in the selection process and provides this Ministry with a selection of highly capable and motivated institutions with the opportunity to become Primary Dealers and BMSs if they perform.

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