The Citi Business Festival’s Cedi Summit will come off on June 27, 2022, at the Alisa Hotel.
The Cedi Summit is a one-day Economic Summit being organised by Citi TV in partnership with the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) and ABSA Bank Ghana, as part of the 2022 Citi Business Festival, that seeks to put these global developments in their proper perspective by:
- Discussing the effects of these global developments on economies and economic actors
- Analysing the various policy response options open to governments, &
- Examining the feasibility and implications of possible solutions for SSA economies in general and the Ghanaian economy in particular.
The Global Economy is facing the prospect of a recession precipitated by post-Covid-19 recovery threats, including the Russia-Ukraine war and the threat of Covid-19 lockdowns in China.
This has led to the World Bank cutting its projected growth of the world economy by nearly a percentage point to 3.2%.
The grim outlook for the world economy has been further exacerbated by rising food prices, rising fuel cost and higher fertilizer prices, leading to a high inflation environment for most countries.
Some African countries and emerging markets have not been spared these developments as they face economic shocks, with growth prospects likely to decline to 3.8% in 2022, according to the 2022 African Economic Outlook. There have been diverse responses from policymakers as they scramble to come up with the right policy responses to deal with the crises.
Some central banks, like those of Ghana and Nigeria, have tried to cool down inflationary pressures by raising interest rates, while Agric ministries in Ghana and Uganda have imposed cereal export bans, and some others like Kenya have removed tariffs on imported grain.
But how well will these policy actions work, and to what extent will they protect these economies from further deterioration?
For instance, the increase in policy rates, though, will reduce demand pressures and its effects on inflation; it will also increase the cost of credit, thereby reducing the private sector’s ability to expand production.
This, therefore, calls for serious dialogue on the way forward, which is the rationale for this summit.
