Ghana’s economy is believed to have expanded by 8.9% in Q2 2021
Ghana’s economy, according to accounting and audit firm, Deloitte Ghana, for the second quarter of this year expanded by 8.9 percentage points.
The expansion according to Deloitte Ghana, was driven mainly by the Agriculture sector which posted an 18 percentage points growth rate in the second quarter.
The 18 percentage points growth rate of the Agriculture sector compares favourably to the 4.3 percentage points growth rate recorded in the first quarter of this year.
Deloitte Ghana’s growth projection for Q2 2021, is however yet to be confirmed by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) – the sole government agency mandated with measuring the country’s GDP performance.
“The estimated Gross Domestic Product for 2021 is about ¢433 billion. This represents a growth of 8.9% compared to GDP as of the same period 2020. The key driver of the growth was the Agriculture sector which grew by about 18%, largely on account of growth in the Crop subsector. We believe that some of the programmes and activities introduced by government are beginning to yield results, particularly those that support the Crop sub sector”.
“Also, we saw a significant growth in the Services sector, particularly in the Hotels and Restaurants sub sector. As we noticed, the Covid-19 adversely impacted on this sector, but we see some recovering in the economy – we see some activities going on in the Hotels and Restaurant sub sector. That contraction we witnessed last year of about 44% contraction, we’ve see a growth this year and that is driving the Services sector to grow at about 9%”, stated Yaw Lartey, Partner in charge of Financial Advisory at Deloitte Ghana.
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The economy witnessed a pick-up in economic activity in the second quarter of this year, compared with the same period of last year in which there was virtually non-existent demand and supply due to the partial lockdown and restrictions.
According to Deloitte, initiatives such as the Ghana CARES ‘’Obaatan Pa’’ programme, is expected to aid in the recovery of the economy post-COVID and expected to increase in business activity.
Deloitte Ghana has also noted that, with the general increase in economic activity this year, government is expected to achieve its targeted growth rate of 5 percentage points of GDP.
The accounting firm, however, cautioned the country to be mindful of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The general increase in economic activity in 2021 is expected to help achieve the targeted growth of 5 percent. However, a critical success factor is how well we handle the rising COVID-19 cases. A strict enforcement of COVID protocols, as well as an effective roll out of COVID vaccination, will sustain the economic recovery process,” the accounting firm pointed out.
