2022: IMF maintains 6.2% GDP growth rate for Ghana
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has maintained its 2022 6.2% GDP growth rate projection for Ghana as contained in its October 2021 World Economic Report.
The projected GDP growth rate is slightly higher than the projected growth rate of 5.8% for the Ghanaian economy in 2022.
Although the IMF did not give reasons for the projected high growth rate for this year, the increase in economic activities following the easing of covid-19 restrictions is expected trigger the high growth rate.
The higher growth rate indicates that businesses will be able to generate more revenue from sales and expand into the future.
Improved aggregate demand and supply, exports as well as government and household spending will influence the expansion of the economy which before the covid-19 pandemic, has been growing at a rate of 7% on average.
Industry to underpin 5.8% GDP growth rate for 2022
The projected Gross Domestic Growth (GDP) of 5.8% for the Ghanaian economy in 2022 is expected to be supported by strong industrial activities.
According to the Fund Management Company, it expects the industry to revert to contributing the highest to overall GDP, despite posting negative growth rates for the past two years as a result of the dire effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector.
Adding that there has been an uneven contribution to growth by the various subsectors under industry for the past five years with government now aiming to even contribution from the various sectors.
The Industry sector is projected to grow by some 6.3 percentage points in 2022 after posting negative growth rates of 3.6 percent and 0.5 percent in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Industry, for the first half 2021, according to the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta in his presentation of the 2022 budget, contracted by 1.3 percentage points.
The sector’s contraction however, compares favourably with an average contraction of 3.2 per cent over the same period in 2020.
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The mining and quarrying subsector for instance, the Minister noted during the budget presentation, contracted by 11.2 per cent and 18.9 per cent in the first and second quarters of 2021.
The recorded contractions compares to contractions of 8.8 per cent and 11.6 per cent in the corresponding periods of 2020.
Economy grows by 6.6% in Q3 2021
The economy grew by 6.6% in the third quarter of last year.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service, education, health and social works, information and communication as well as hotel and restaurants were some of the major drivers of the growth rate.
This was a significant increase from what was recorded during the same period last year, whereby there was a contraction in the economy as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The main sub-sectors that expanded in quarter three of 2021 are Education (24.2%); Health & Social Works (20.5%); Information & Communication (17.0%); Professional Administrative & Support (16.7%); Hotel & Restaurants (16.4%); Public Administration & Defence, Social Security (16.3%), Fishing (14.3%); Real Estate (11.5%); Crops (9.8%).
For sectoral growth rates, the Services sector recorded the highest growth rate of 13.4%, followed by the Agriculture sector with 9.2%.
However, Industry contracted by 2.0%. This was as a result of contraction in the mining sub sector.
