Ghana Economy Expands 4.1% in First Quarter From Year Earlier
- By: Pauline BaxEkow Dontoh | Bloomberg
- Jun 20, 2015
- 1 min read
Ghana’s economy expanded in the first quarter after contracting a year earlier during the same period, according to the statistics office.
Gross domestic product rose 4.1 percent, Philomena Nyarko, an official from the Ghana Statistical Service, told reporters on Wednesday in the capital, Accra. The GDP shrank a revised 3.8 percent in the first three months of 2014, she said. The economy grew 0.9 percent in the first quarter versus the previous three months.
Ghana obtained almost $1 billion in loans from the International Monetary Fund in April as it seeks to narrow the budget deficit and support the cedi, which has dropped 25 percent against the dollar this year. The program may also help damp inflation, which reached 16.9 percent in May.
While the IMF funds may help bolster investor confidence, chronic blackouts that last as long as 24 hours and plunging crude prices are hurting growth and an unexpected shortfall of the cocoa crop may curb revenue. Ghana is the world’s second-biggest grower.
The government expects to register the slowest rate of economic expansion this year since 1994, at 3.9 percent.
The cedi gained 2.2 percent to 4.295 against the dollar at 11:39 a.m. in the capital, Accra.
Source: Bloomberg.com
By: Pauline BaxEkow Dontoh
