Private remittances for the first three months of 2009 declined by 7.3 per cent to US$1.98 billion compared to the same period last year, an indication of the effects of the global financial crisis. The amount, however, showed a 40.6 percent increase over the transfers through banks in the first quarter of 2007. Dr Paul Acquah, who announced this at a press briefing of the Monetary Policy Committee on Tuesday, said out of the total inward transfers in the first quarter of 2009, US$359.37 million (or 18.2 percent) accrued to individuals, compared with US$432.8 million (20.3 percent) in the first quarter of 2008. He said the Ghanaian economy was not totally immune to the effects of the global crisis, although the impact had been relatively limited in the first round. On the depreciation of the cedi, Dr Acquah said there were relatively sharp movements in the exchange rate of the cedi against the three core currencies during the first quarter of the year. The cedi depreciated cumulatively by 13 percent against the dollar, 9.9 percent against the Pound Sterling, and 6.6 percent against the Euro. In year-on-year terms, the comparable depreciations were 0.8, 1.1 and 7.3 percent respectively against the three core currencies – the US dollar, the pound sterling, and the euro. The rate of depreciation declined somewhat in April, with reduced volatility observed in the exchange market. Dr Acquah said the latest credit conditions survey by the Bank of Ghana showed a general net tightening of credit conditions for all categories of borrowers in the first quarter of 2009, and a general softening in demand for credit by both enterprises and households during the quarter. Provisional data show that credit to the private sector and public institutions for the 12-month period to March 2009 by Domestic Money Banks increased by GH¢2,132.0 million (48.0 percent) compared with GH¢1,615.8 million (57.3 percent) recorded for the same period in 2008 and GH¢1,820.3 million (43.9 percent) at the end of December 2008. The private sector accounted for GH¢1,831.5 million (85.9 percent) of the total credit flow, and a growth of 51.4 percent. This was GH¢1,308.2 million (81.0 percent), and a growth of 58.1 percent for the same period in 2008. Real annual growth of credit to the private sector was 25.6 percent at the end of March 2009, virtually unchanged from the end December 2008 growth of 25.4 percent, but a slowdown from the 38.9 percent for March 2008. Of the credit growth to the private sector, enterprises accounted for 79.2 percent, up from the 77.8 percent for December 2008 and the 69.9 percent for the first quarter of 2008. The share of households (mostly consumer loans) eased marginally to 20.4 percent in March 2009 from 20.6 percent in December 2008, and was significantly lower than 27.4 percent recorded in March 2008. Distribution of the annual credit flow to the private sector continued to be broad-based, with the share of the services sector, even though still the largest, declining during the quarter. The most notable shift in shares during the quarter was the reduction of the share of services and the increase in the shares of commerce and finance, while manufacturing and agric recorded marginal increases in shares. All other sectors maintained their relative shares during the quarter - the share of services declined from GH¢570.1 million (35.9 percent) in December 2008 to GH¢453.7 million (24.8 percent) in March 2009; Commerce and finance GH¢370.3 million (20.2 percent), manufacturing (GH¢190.0 million or 10.4 percent), miscellaneous (GH¢204.5 million or 11.2 percent), and import trade (GH¢101.6 million or 5.5 percent). All the other sectors recorded increases of between 1.7 percent and 5.1 percent. Source: GNA