Ghana targets $768m revenue from oil

GHANA, which only began large-scale oil production less than a year ago, is targeting oil revenue of about $768 million in 2012, the nation's finance minister said on Wednesday.Presenting the government's 2012 budget to parliament, Finance and Economic Planning Minister Kwabena Duffour also said the economy was forecast to grow 9.4 percent while inflation was projected to be 8.7 percent.'Total benchmark oil revenue is estimated at 1,239.8 million cedis (768 million dollars, 659 million euros),' he said.Ghana began large-scale oil production last December from an oil field known as Jubilee ' one of the largest recent discoveries in West Africa ' with current 80,000 barrels per day.Oil is projected to become Ghana's biggest foreign exchange earner, upstaging the gold, cocoa and timber exports it previously relied on.Inflation, which was 18.1 percent at the end of 2008, stood at 8.4 percent at the end of September and is forecast at 8.7 percent next year, the minister said.Gross domestic product (GDP) increased steadily from four percent in 2009 to 7.7 percent last year and 13.6 in 2011 but is forecast to drop next year to 9.4 percent, he said.The fiscal deficit for the first three quarters of this year was $702 million or two percent of GDP while total revenue and grants stood at $5.46 billion or 15.5 per cent of GDP, Duffour said.Financing of the overall 2012 cash budget deficit of $2.1 billion or 4.8 percent of GDP is expected to come from domestic and foreign sources, including $745 million from the Chinese Development Bank, he added.The tax rate for mining will from next year be increased from 25 percent to 35 and a windfall profit tax of 10 percent will also be collected from all mining companies in the country, the minister said.Ghana is the continent's second biggest gold producer after South Africa.The budget will be debated in the parliament before it is sent to the president for approval.
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