"EIU: IMF programme will benefit Ghana\u2019s economy"

" \n EIU: IMF programme will benefit Ghana\u2019s economy \n \n\n \n The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has said the country\u2019s economy will benefit immensely from an IMF programme, especially in a bid to reignite investor interest. \n \n\n \n In the EIU\u2019s five-year forecast for Ghana released on 13 April 2022, it said: \u201cGhana would benefit from an\u00a0IMF programme, given investor concerns about fiscal sustainability due to high debt, but the government will prioritise policy independence. \n \n\n \n \u201cIn line with the latest exchange-rate data released by the\u00a0Ghana Statistical Service\u00a0(the national statistical agency), which show sharper than expected depreciation at the beginning of the year, EIU has revised its exchange-rate forecast for 2022.\u201d \n \n\n \n \u201cWe now expect the cedi to weaken sharply in the first half of 2022, accelerating the depreciation of the currency against the US dollar on average, to GHC7.35:US$1 in 2022 (previously forecast at GHC6.55:US$1), reflecting Ghana\u2019s structural import dependency,\u201d the EIU stated. \n \n\n \n \u201cThe spike in global\u00a0oil prices\u00a0in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led us to revise up our oil price outlook sharply. We expect prices to remain elevated in the near term, further boosting Ghana\u2019s fiscal, inflation and current-account forecasts.\u201d \n \n\n \n Read: Inflation rate projected to end 2022 at 16.3%\u00a0 \n \n\n \n Fiscal deficit \n \n\n \n On the country\u2019s\u00a0fiscal deficit, the EIU said: \u201cGiven higher than previously expected government revenue from oil for the forecast period, we have reduced our fiscal deficit forecast for 2022\u2014to 6.9% of GDP (from 7.2% of GDP previously)\u2014and for 2023-26, to an average of 5.2% of GDP (from 5.4% of GDP).\u201d \n \n\n \n It added: \u201cIn line with rising oil, food and general\u00a0commodity prices, alongside heightened logistical disruptions due to the Russia-Ukraine war, we have revised our inflation forecasts for Ghana for 2022. We now expect price growth to average 13.4% (up from 11.1% previously). \n \n\n \n \u201cWe now forecast that the current-account deficit will average 2.4% of GDP in 2022 (down from a previous forecast of 2.8% of GDP), supported by stronger oil and gold exports; in 2023-26 we expect it to average 3.3% of GDP in 2023-26 (revised down from 3.4% of GDP).\u201d \n \n\n \n \n "

"EIU: IMF programme will benefit Ghana\u2019s economy"

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