Special topics
Welcome to Thursday. Today the media landscape capture some sector issues which made headlines in 2018 Budget.
The Accra based Starrfmonline reported “445MW added to power generation – Ofori-Atta” According to the online portal Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta has indicated that government in 2017 added a total of 445MW of power to the country’s generation capacity, bringing the total installed capacity to 4,577MW.While presenting the 2018 budget on Wednesday, 15 November Mr. Ofori-Atta said:
“In 2018, Government will increase the installed generation capacity by about 487MW (Cenpower; 340MW, Early Power Phase 1; 147MW) to meet the growing demand of electricity”. Under the Rural Electrification Programme, he said “289 out of a targeted 2,185 communities were connected to the national grid.
Also, the Business expertise disclosed on Citifmonline, “IES predicts 3% increase in fuel prices”. Consumers will be expected to pay more at the pumps in the second pricing window of this month. The Institute of Energy Securities (IES) is predicting a three to six percent increase in fuel prices.
Principal Research Analyst at the IES, Richmond Rockson who spoke to Citi Business News attributed the development to the marginal depreciation of the cedi, as well as the increase in prices of gasoline and crude oil on the international market.
Furthermore the state owned news portal “Govt targets $669m from petroleum sector”
The government expects to rake in some $669.4 million from the petroleum sector in 2018. The amount is expected to be grossed from the export of some 53.25 million barrels of oil and other revenue – generating sources in the petroleum sector.
Next year’s target is about 29.74 per cent higher than the US$515.64 million set in this year’s budget.