The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest projection for economic growth in Ghana for 2020, is lower that the growth rate expected by the Bank of Ghana.
The 0.9 percent growth rate projection by the Bretton Woods Institution in its latest World Economic Outlook report released this month for Ghana in 2020, is in line with the revised target the Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Attah shared during his Mid-Year Budget presentation to parliament in July this year, which saw projected real GDP growth for 2020 being revised downwards from 6.8 percent to 0.9 percent.
Data from the Central Bank has not only backed the Finance Minister’s position on the resilience of the Ghanaian economy, but pointed to some green shoots of rebound in economic activity.
The Bank of Ghana’s updated Composite Index of Economic Activity grew by 3.6 percent in July 2020, supported by consumer spending, industrial consumption of electricity and construction activities.
Based on the improving conditions, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, while addressing the media at the 96th Monetary Policy Committee press conference in September, said they were now expecting an overall economic growth rate in line with the projections made in its Monetary Policy Report released in May, 2020.
“Things are turning out not as badly as originally anticipated. If you look at the dip in growth in the second quarter for example, it is not as deep as was originally thought. We think that the economy will end up probably closer to our original forecast of around 2% that we had made at the beginning of all that we had made in March.”
We need a people-centered and sustainable recovery post COVID – BoG Governor
Already, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, who chairs the Board of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank, Dr. Ernest Addison, has urged colleague Governors globally to ensure the speedy formulation and implementation of policies to protect the gains made prior to the Coronavirus crisis.
In a virtual address to Governors at the IMF-World Bank annual meeting earlier on Thursday October 15, 2020, Dr. Ernest Addison said the world needs a post COVID-19 recovery plan that is people-centered and fair.