Bank of Ghana maintains its key interest rate at 17%

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana maintained its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 17 percent, citing short-term pressure on emerging economies, said Dr. Ernest Addison on Monday [19659002] at a press conference in Accra. Addison said the normalization of US monetary policy, leading to a stronger US dollar and rising US yields, continued to weigh on emerging-market badets

. June while the local cedi currency, which had been relatively stable over the first four months, depreciated by 5.8% as of July 19.

"Global conditions are characterized by geopolitical tensions and uncertainties in the external environment … concerns over a further tightening of US monetary policy, with adverse effects on the flow of funds. capitals and currency markets for emerging and frontier economies, "he said

. With regard to the global outlook, the commission has decided to keep the monetary policy rate at 17% while closely monitoring short-term developments, "he added.

The total public debt has fallen by 67.3% of GDP In May 2017, GDP stood at 63.8% of GDP (GH 154.3 billion at the end of May 2018.

. domestic debt was GH ¢ 72.6 billion, or 47.0% Gross external debt was GH ¢ 81.7 billion, with a share of 53.0%.

Gross International Reserves (GIRs) at the end of June 2018 were $ 7.3 billion, or 3.9 months of import coverage, external shocks and enough to allow the Bank to deal with external vulnerabilities.

Source: GNA