Page 2 - Z-Business News -January 2018

Z-BUSINESS NEWS Monthly Bulletin JA
NUARY 2018
GHANAIAN ECONOMY
BOG cautions public on use of bitcoin in Ghana
The Bank of Ghana has cautioned the public on the use of bitcoin in the country. The Central Bank said it “has taken notice of recent devel-
opments in the use, holding, and trading of virtual or digital currencies such as bitcoin” and “wishes to notify the general public that these activities in digital currency are currently not licensed under the Payments System Act 2003 (Act 662).”
“The Bank of Ghana is currently investing a lot of resources to further enhance the payments and set- tlements system, including digital forms of money and also to introduce cyber security guidelines with safeguard electronic and online nancial transac- tions,” BOG said in a statement signed by its secre- tary Caroline Otoo.
The statement further said, “A revised Payments System Act referred to as Payment Systems and Services Bill will be considered by Parliament with-
in the next couple of months. This revision should bring the electronic payments space up to date to international standards and aligned with the evolv- ing electronic payments landscape.”
Read the full statement below:
NOTICE TO BANKS AND SPECIALIZED DE- POSIT-TAKING INSTITUTIONS (SDIs) AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC NOTICE NO. BG/GOV/ SEC/2018/02 DIGITAL AND VIRTUAL CURREN- CIES OPERATIONS IN GHANA
The Bank of Ghana has taken notice of recent de- velopments in the use, holding, and trading of virtual or digital currencies (also known as cryptocurren- cies), such as Bitcoin in Ghana.
The Bank of Ghana wishes to notify the general public that these activities in digital currency are currently not licensed under the Payments System Act 2003 (Act 662).
The Bank of Ghana is currently investing a lot of re- sources to further enhance the payments and settle- ments system, including digital forms of money and also to introduce cyber security guidelines to safe- guard electronic and online nancial transactions.
A revised Payments System Act referred to as Pay- ment Systems and Services Bill will be considered
by Parliament within the next couple of months. This revision should bring the electronic payments space up to date with international standards and aligned with the evolving electronic payments landscape.
While the Bank of Ghana acknowledges the enor- mous potential in the block chain technology and how that can signi cantly transform the payments systemlandscapeandpromote nancialinclusion, we are assessing with stakeholders and other in- ternational partners how the subsequent use of the block chain technology into digital currencies would t into the global nancial and payments architec- ture.
The public is therefore strongly encouraged to do business with only institutions licensed by the Bank of Ghana to ensure that such transactions fall under our regulatory purview.
For the avoidance of doubt, the public can always consult our website (www.bog.gov.gh) for a list of licensed banks and non-bank nancial institutions in Ghana. The Bank of Ghana assures the general public of its continuous efforts to safeguard the sta- bility and soundness of the nancial sector.
(SGD)
CAROLINE OTOO (MRS) THE SECRETARY.
TOR to re ne 25,000 barrels of crude daily as it
Tresumes operations
ema Oil Re nery is set to re ne about 25,000 barrels of crude oil per day as the state re- nery resumes operations after almost 10
the RSCC will be back on stream very soon.”
Total shutdown
Last year, The Chamber of Petroleum Consum- ers (CPC) called for a complete “shutdown” of the Tema Oil Re nery (TOR) if it is not t for purpose. Executive Director of CPC, Duncan Amoah, said the inability of the re nery to operate at full capac- ity for years, is costing the country a lot of money. Speaking to Joy News, he said the re nery should be closed down and the 3.00 pesewas charged for every litre of petrol purchased should be scrapped. “I believe strongly that if the re nery is not going to be repositioned to work, it should be shut down,” he said. Ghana’s main oil re nery has been reeling under challenges, energy experts have blamed on poor management.
Source: www.myjoyonline.com
months of shutdown due to maintenance. The Public Affairs Manager of TOR, Dr. Kinsgley Ant- wi-Boasiako said the development is a good start for the re nery. Speaking to Joy Business, he said, “We have started receiving re ned products into our storage tank after we had re ned the crude that we had. So like you rightly said we are coming from a major turnaround maintenance, in fact, we call it, a complete overhaul.
Dr. Antwi-Boasiako said, “Currently the plant as it sits there is as good as new because we’ve spent so much time and resources on maintaining it. “We call it, the test run processing, we are set to process about 942,000 barrels of crude and that will proba- bly take 40 days to nish. Currently, because we are operating with just one furnace, we are operating
with a technical maximum capacity of 25,000 per stream day,” he said. Antwi-Boasiako said currently it is the Crude Distillation Unit that is working fully and that the re nery is working hard to get the Re- sidual Fluid Catalytic Cracker (RSCC) to start work- ing soon. “Currently it is the Crude Distillation unit that is working, we’re still working on the residual uid catalytic cracker (RSCC) and we are hoping
ECONOMY
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