Ghana’ growth rate forecast for 2022 to 5.2% has been cut by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but higher than Sub-Saharan Africa average of 3.8%.
Recall that the Bretton Wood institution had earlier projected 6.2% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the Ghanaian economy in 2022, bigger than the 4.7% growth rate it predicted in 2021.
In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the Fund said the Ghanaian economy will expand by 5.1% in 2023, 0.1% lower than the 2022 forecast, whilst it return to the pre-pandemic levels of 7.5% in 2027.
From the report, the Ghanaian economy is expected to be benefit from high commodity prices, particularly crude oil and expected increase in gold production.
Global demand for oil in 2022 is projected to increase to 99.7 million barrels a day (mb/d) in 2022, up 2.1 mb/d from 2021, according to the International Energy Agency.
Improved aggregate demand and supply of goods and exports will influence the expansion of the economy, which before the Covid-19 pandemic had been growing at a rate of about 6% on the average.
Industry is expected to pick up this year, whilst the Services and Agriculture sectors are expected to consolidate their gains in 2022.
The Bank of Ghana estimates had earlier indicated that the economy expanded by 6.6% in the third quarter of last year.This is higher than the 5.1% recorded in the second half of 2021.
Apart from oil, the economy grew at a rate of 8.6% in the nine months of 2021, compared to 6.5% in the second-half of 2021.
From the figures, the half-year growth rate of the country in 2021 was stronger than the provisional figures released by the Ghana Statistical Service, which pegged the second quarter growth rate at 3.9%.
For the sectors, the services sector recorded the highest growth rate, expanding significantly by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter of 2021. It was followed by the agriculture sector, which grew by 9.2%.
