Finance Students & Associates-FINSA (UGBS)♨
                🇬🇭11th March, 2019
                ⏰6:00pm

BUSINESS SPACE📈
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📡Gov't seeks $750m loan from StanChart, Standard Bank

Government is in talks with Standard Chartered Plc and Standard Bank Group Ltd. for a bridge loan of $750 million and will repay the facility with the proceeds of a Eurobond sale. The finance ministry listed the proposal for a syndicated loan in Friday’s parliamentary order papers and said it is intended to “fund or refinance development projects and for liability management,” according to the document. The facility would be a short-term loan, Mark Assibey-Yeboah, chairman of the finance committee, said when asked to speak on the matter.

📡‘Payment Systems and Services Bill’ to be passed in June– BoG

The Bank of Ghana(BoG) says it is confident that works on the Payment Systems and Services Bill being done by parliament will be completed by the end of June this year. The Payment Systems and Services Bill has been in parliament for about 2 years. When passed into law it is expected to further strengthen the regulatory environment and provide additional support for non-banks to establish, and operate businesses offering electronic payment services.

📡Gov’t must enforce strict anti-money laundering cyber rules-Analyst

Some cyber security analysts are calling on government to ensure that there is strict adherence to cyber security and anti-money laundering regulations in the country. The call comes as the European Union has rejected a proposal by the EU Executive Commission to include Ghana and 22 other countries to its dirty money list. The list did not entail any type of sanctions, restrictions on trade relations or impediment to development aid; but however required banks and obliged entities to apply enhanced vigilance measures on transactions involving these countries.

📡IFC, Ghana Stock Exchange 'Ring the Bell for Gender Equality'

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is partnering with the Ghana Stock Exchange and over 70 other stock exchanges around the world to “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality”. This is an initiative linked with International Women’s Day that promotes increased women’s participation in the global economy to catalyze sustainable and inclusive private sector growth.

|Policy Rate in Ghana - 16.0%|

|Inflation Rate in Ghana - 9.00%|

|Treasury bills rates|
Period        Discount Rates       Interest Rates
91 - Day         14.1855%                  14.7071%
182 - Day       14.0810%                  15.1474%
2-Yr Note                                          19.7500%

Foreign News💤
⚖South Africa's Absa Sees Revenue Growth Overtaking Costs in 2019

Absa Group Ltd., South Africa’s third-largest lender, is forecasting that its revenue growth in 2019 will outpace that of cost increases after slower economic growth and a battered consumer weighed on its ability to generate income. Adjusted earnings per share, which excludes items related to the separation from former U.K. parent Barclays Plc, rose 4 percent to 19.1 rand ($1.32), Johannesburg-based Absa said in a statement.

⚖Saudi Arabia to cut crude oil exports in April: Saudi official

Saudi Arabia plans to cut its crude oil exports in April to below 7 million barrels per day (bpd), while keeping its output "well below" 10 million bpd, a Saudi official said on Monday, as the kingdom seeks to drain a supply glut and support oil prices. Currently, State-owned Saudi Aramco's oil allocations for April are 635,000 bpd below customers' nominations -- requests made by refiners and clients for Saudi crude, the Saudi official said. The April allocations by Aramco show "a deep cut of 635,000 bpd from customer requests for its crude oil."

⚖US will soon threaten to topple Saudi Arabia as the world's top oil exporter: IEA

The U.S. will start exporting more oil than Russia and threaten to unseat Saudi Arabia as the world's top exporter by 2024, according to the International Energy Agency. The forecast from IEA comes just weeks after the U.S. exported a record 3.6 million barrels per day of crude oil. The country also exports about 5 million bpd of petroleum products, including refined fuels like gasoline. Those shipments will surge in the coming years as crude production from the nation's shale fields continues to boom, IEA says in its annual five-year oil outlook.

⚖China's yuan 'may already be overvalued' and is set to move lower, Nomura says

The Chinese yuan is probably already overvalued against the U.S. dollar and any efforts by President Donald Trump's team to lock in that level as part of trade negotiations will likely backfire, according to Japanese financial firm Nomura. The yuan has long been a sticking point for the U.S., which, despite years of long-term appreciation in the currency, accuses Beijing of keeping it artificially undervalued to boost exports. Washington has reportedly pressed Chinese officials to maintain currency stability amid trade talks. Despite that request, Nomura said the American side appears to have it all wrong.

|Daily Interbank FX Rates|
Currency           Pairs Code   Buying    Selling
U.S Dollar             USDGHS       5.2176       5.2228
Pound Sterling    GBPGHS       6.8111       6.8199
Swiss Franc          SHFGHS       5.1791       5.1839
Canadian Dollar    ADGHS 3.8858       3.8898
Euro                        EURGHS     5.8615       5.8666
Chinese Reminbi     CNYGHS 0.7758       0.7766

🌀|Sources|
www.citibusinessnews.com
www.bog.gov.gh
www.myjoyonline.com
www.bloomberg.com
www.cnbc.com
www.wikipedia.com
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Term of the day📚
🤔 Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of making large amounts of money generated by a criminal activity, such as drug trafficking or terrorist funding, appear to have come from a legitimate source. The money from the criminal activity is considered dirty, and the process "launders" it to make it look clean. Money laundering in itself is a crime.

🤔 What are the money laundering indicators?
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📍Compiled & edited by:     
Agnes Boatemaa Appiadu
Philip Elike Gagah