Finance Students & Associates-FINSA (UGBS)♨
               🇬🇭2nd April, 2019
                ⏰6:00pm

BUSINESS SPACE📈
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📡 GN Savings and Ecobank Ghana sign 'mutually beneficial' partnership

Ecobank Ghana and GN Savings have signed an agreement for the establishment of a partnership between the two financial institutions. The agreement was signed on Friday, March 29, 2019 at the offices of GN Savings and will see the two institutions work together in areas that will be mutually beneficial to both entities a statement on the deal said. The agreement became necessary due to the reclassification of GN Bank as a Savings and Look company, now called GN Savings. The CEO of GN Savings, Mr Issah Adam has urged clients and the Ghanaian by banking public to however continue doing business with them.

📡 Clean-up of microfinance sector starts in Q2 of 2019 - BoG

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison says the clean-up of the microfinance sector is going to start in the second quarter of this year. He says the clean-up is expected to cost about GH¢700m. He added that they are working with the Ministry of Finance to raise the necessary resources to do that. There are about 319 microfinance institutions across the country that have the license to operate and are in general compliance with the central bank's guidelines.

📡 Switch to gas to reduce cost of power in Ghana again - Ministry

The Ministry of Energy is anticipating a further drop in the electricity tariffs as the country works to increase the use of gas by power generation by plants. The Ministry believes this should bring respite to consumers. Although the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission was expected to announce tariffs adjustments in March, the Commission delayed it's announcement to May which is expected to take effect in June, 2019. The Deputy Energy Minister in charge of Finance, Joseph Cudjoe stated hopes of a drop in electricity tariffs as part of assurances to the public in the wake or recent power outages and the impact on users electricity.

📡 Docutech introduces Xerox Iridesse Production Press to Ghana's printing industry

Docutech Limited, the authorized distributor of Xerox Products in Ghana, hosted the West Africa unveiling of the Xerox Iridesse Production Press, an innovation that is revolutionizing the digital print industry. The Iridesse Production Press is the only digital press that can print metallic gold or silver dry ink, CYMK and clear dry ink in a single pass, giving print providerd an immediate competitive edge in the growing digital print enhancement market. The General Manager of Docutech, Jean Louis believes that the introduction of Xerox Iridesse will truly give customers unlimited printing possibilities in regard to greater efficiencies, reduced complexity and faster time-to-market capabilities.

|Policy Rate in Ghana - 16.0%|

|Inflation Rate in Ghana - 9.20%|

|Treasury bills rates|
Period        Discount Rates       Interest Rates
91 - Day           14.1953%                  14.7176%
182 - Day         14.0914%                  15.1595%

Foreign News💤
⚖ Uganda withdraws cash from oil fund before producing any oil

Uganda withdrew from its nascent Petroleum Fund for a second time before it starts producing oil, as the East African nation struggles to narrow its budget gap while increasing infrastructure investments. A sum of 200bn Shillings ($54m) was removed from the fund to help finance spending plans for the year through June, leaving 288.7bn Shillings in the account, the Finance Ministry said in a report on its website. This follows a 125.3bn Shillings withdrawal the previous year.

⚖ Bitcoin rallies 15% to it's highest level since November

Bitcoin jumped suddenly on Tuesday, following months of relatively low volatility in an asset once known for its wild price swings. The price of the world's largest cryptocurrency bounced more than 15% higher to almost $4,800, according to CoinDesk data, reaching its highest level since late November. The digital asset has added over $14bn to it's market value in the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.

⚖ Global recession is highly likely if there is no US-China trade deal within months

According to Moody's Analytics Chief Economist Mark Zandi, the global economy is "highly likely" to go into a recession if the U.S. and China don't reach a trade deal within three months. His prediction is based on current "extraordinary fragile" business sentiment that was a result of a protracted tariff fight between the two largest economies in the world that started last year.

|Daily Interbank FX Rates|
Currency         Pairs Code   Buying   Selling
U.S Dollar            USDGHS       5.0834    5.0884
Pound Sterling   GBPGHS       6.6638    6.6724
Swiss Franc         CHFGHS       5.0939    5.0997
Canadian Dollar CADGHS       3.8044    3.8080
Euro                      EURGHS       5.7058    5.7102
Chinese Reminbi CNYGHS      0.7573    0.7580

🌀|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📚
🤔 Microfinance
Microfinance is a category of financial services targeted at individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings and checking accounts; microinsurance; and payment systems. Microfinance services are designed to be more affordable to poor and socially marginalized customers and to help them become self-sufficient.

🤔 Can you list some of the challenges faced by Microfinance institutions in Ghana?

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📍Compiled & edited by:   
Philip Elike Gagah
Agnes Boatemaa Appiadu