Government’s covid-19 stimulus package impacted positively on firms – GSS
The Ghana Statistical Service has revealed that there has been significant improvement in revenues of some Small and Medium-sized Enterprises [SMEs] as a result of the government’s covid-19 stimulus packages.
The positive effect was evident amongst SMEs as their sales increased by 11.5%.
“The findings from the Third Wave of the COVID-19 Business Tracker indicate that the government stimulus packages impacted positively on firms’ sales with an increase of 11.5 percent with small firms benefitting the most as their sales almost doubled (22%),” remarked Government Statistician, Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, on the COVID-19 Wave III Business tracker survey conducted between 1st and 30th September 2021.
“Sales increased by 33 percentage points between Wave I and III with the change mainly driven by firms in the top 35th percentile”, he added.
The data also revealed that over 90 percent of local businesses were opened during the period of the survey.
The figure is much higher than the about 73 percent and 86 percent of firms reported opened during the first and second waves of the pandemic respectively.
The Wave III Business Tracker also showed the rising use of mobile money among firms for sales.
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Data compared to Wave I and II, reveal that almost 7 out of 10 firms are now using mobile money to do business, with mobile money usage increasing from 35.7% and 53.4% (Waves I and II respectively) to 69.6%(Wave III). Similarly, more businesses are adopting the use of the internet for sales.
“We need to reimagine development in the digital age. It is encouraging to see more firms embracing digitalization as a default to improve business. UNDP remains committed to supporting Government’s digital agenda and recovery efforts to accelerate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”, stated Angela Lusigi, UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana.
“The improvement recorded over the periods is remarkable, but we also need to pay attention to the policy supports required by the firms. The World Bank will continue to support the Government of Ghana in its efforts towards the country’s economic recovery,” noted Pierre Laporte, World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The COVID-19 Business Tracker is a collaboration between the Statistical Service, UNDP and the World Bank which aims at providing critical information to help the Government of Ghana and development partners.
Through the Business Tracker Survey, the Ghana Statistical Service aims at providing critical information to help the Government of Ghana, development partners and other organizations monitor the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses.
The Business Tracker Survey is part of the global Business Pulse Survey (BPS) initiative of the World Bank, surveying the impact of COVID-19 on the private sector in more than 50 countries.
For the Ghana survey, 4,311 firms were interviewed during the first round, of which 3,658 were re-interviewed during the second-round while 4,858 firms were interviewed during the third round including 1,200 new firms.
