President Nana Akufo-Addo has said the country’s Gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by five per cent (5%) by the end of 2021.

The president made this known on Tuesday when he delivered his first state of the nation address (SONA) of his second term in Parliament.

He said although the COVID-19 pandemic had affected the economic outlook of the country but promised to lead the country to improve the economy.

He said among other things that his government would lead a “rapid industrialisation” drive that will result in “a value added economy” which will be fuelled by one of his flagship programmes, the One District, One Factory (1D1F).

He said 232 projects under the 1D1F are at various stages of completion which would contribute to boosting the industrialization sector.

Akufo-Addo’s projections come at a time international ratings agency, Fitch, has said in its latest paper on “Energy Sector Debt a Risk to Ghana’s Post-Pandemic Debt Trajectory” that Ghana’s debt will hit approximately 75 percent of Gross Domestic Product from 2024.

Accordingly, the debt will continue to rise in 2021 and 2022 due to high COVID-19 pandemic-related spending and the realisation of energy sector liabilities.

A Ghanaians Times report said “Fitch affirmed Ghana’s sovereign rating (B/Stable) in October 2020, on an expectation of a gradual recovery, both in economic performance and fiscal revenue following the pandemic shock, the availability of external and domestic financing sources, and the eventual stabilisation of debt/GDP.”

The report said “However, Ghana’s public finances are complicated by a history of domestic arrears and by contingent liabilities that will continue to add to its public debt stock”.