Global economic growth continued to be dominated by considerable uncertainty related to the US-China trade tensions, unresolved Brexit negotiations, and geopolitical tensions which impacted crude oil prices.
These developments heightened policy uncertainties, weighed down on business confidence, dampened investment spending and industrial production, and have resulted in a synchronized growth slowdown across major advanced economies.
Growth in emerging market and developing economies has also weakened slightly, reflecting the decline in global trade mainly due to the trade tensions. In the outlook, accommodative financial conditions in advanced economies, gains in employment and wage growth are expected to provide some stimulus to global growth.
In the domestic economy, the indicators of economic activity have exhibited strong trends and expected to remain fairly robust, supported by expectations of increased oil and gold production and the continued implementation of growth-oriented government flagship projects.
On inflation, the three readings published by the Ghana Statistical Service since the release of the rebased Consumer Price Index showed that inflation has remained below its central path. Moreover, inflation expectations for businesses, consumers, and the financial sector, appeared to be wellanchored within single digits despite a slight pick-up in the Bank’s measure of core inflation (headline inflation excluding fuel and utilities).
