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Business News of Thursday, 25 June 2020

Source: The Finder

Ghana’s 2021 growth to be among world’s best - Report

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Ghana’s economy will grow strongly at 5.9 per cent, in 2021, after the looming dismal outlook for 2020, thanks to the COVID-19 crisis.

The projection was made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The outlook for 2021, according to the Fund is positive with the 5.9 growth rate well above that of the country’s peers in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) and even that of the world.

The Global Economic and External Sector Development Report published by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) quoted the Fund’s projection, noting that Ghana’s growth rate will be among the highest among advanced, emerging, frontier and developing economies.

The IMF is forecasting a 1.5 per cent GDP at worst for Ghana in 2020, largely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

But the economy, according to the Fund will grow very strongly next year, buoyed by immense activities in the services and industry sectors.

The IMF estimates that the global economy will recover to 5.8 per cent in 2021.

China, an emerging economy will record the highest growth of 9.2 per cent in the world next year, followed by India, another emerging economy at 7.4 per cent. Both economies will grow by a low 1.2 and 1.9 per cent respectively this year.

The United States of America’s economy is expected to grow by 4.7 per cent next year, following a contraction of 5.9% this year.

Most of the advanced European economies will also grow by more than 4 per cent of GDP in 2021.

Nigeria and South Africa will also grow at rates of 2.4 and 4.0 per cent respectively in 2021. Their economies will, however, contract this year.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s real GDP growth is projected to decline from 3.1 per cent in 2019 to -1.6 per cent in 2020.

Broadly, risks to the outlook are tilted to the downside despite the massive monetary and fiscal stimulus initiatives undertaken by the various central banks and governments. For instance, it is still highly uncertain how long the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to spread, the extent of the economic fallout, and how quickly global growth will recover from the outbreak.

Ghana’s economy grew at a rate of 4.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2020.

According to the Ghana Statistical Service, the services sector grew impressively at a rate of 9.5 per cent in Q1 of 2020.

The 4.9 per cent growth rate is compared with the 6 per cent growth rate during QI of 2019.

The main sub-sectors that droved GDP growth rate in January to March 2020 GDP were Information & Communication, Manufacturing, Education and Public Administration & Defence, Social Security.