Ghana’s economy has expanded by 32.4 percent following the rebasing of the economy from the 2006 to 2013 base period.
By rebasing of the economy, the base year for calculating the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which refers to the monetary value of all finished goods and service produced within a particular period has been moved from 2006 to 2013.
As a result the 2017, provisional rebased annual GDP stands at 256.7 billion Ghana Cedis.
Compared to the old series the rebased GDP expanded by 24.6 percent.
Speaking to Citi Business News after announcing the new figures, Acting Government Statistician, Baah Wadieh explained that growth recorded in the various sectors contributed tho the increase.
“All the sectors expanded and all the sectors grew but some grew more than others. Industry for instance grew by 15 % and it was the area that recorded the largest growth, Services also grew but the growth in services was smaller than we observed for Industry and Agriculture”.
Meanwhile, Economist with DataBank Courage Kingsley Martey says the rebased economy isn’t going to change the economic standing of the citizens but will give government some room to borrow.
“With the bigger vase in GDP there appears to be a bigger space now because if you look at the 2017 debt stock against the rebased 2017, GDP you will be getting about 55.5 % debt to GDP ratio, so it appears there has been a borrowing space created”
He however cautioned that borrowing must be done with caution
“But let’s not get ahead of ourselves because the implication also for the revenue side is that the tax to GDP ratio has also dropped from 15.7 % to 12.6% as at 2017 so then my policy prescription will be to prioritize in bringing up the tax to GDP ratio to at least 16% but preferably towards 20% like before we start exploiting the borrowing space.”
The Agricultural sector recorded a percentage distribution of 21.7%, whiles Industry recorded 36.9%, and Services recorded 41.4%.
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By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana