Ghana’s economy experienced a marginal slowdown, with a 3.2% year-on-year growth rate in the second quarter, compared to a revised 3.3% in the first quarter, according to the nation’s statistics agency.
This comes as Ghana, a key player in gold, oil, and cocoa production, confronts one of its most severe economic crises in decades, primarily driven by escalating public debt. In an effort to address these challenges, Ghana entered into a $3 billion, three-year loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in May.
According to Reuters, the government has made a conservative forecast, predicting that economic growth will decelerate to just 1.5% for the year, down from 3.1% in 2022. The first-quarter growth rate was revised downward to 3.3% from the previous estimate of 4.2%, as revealed by the Ghana Statistical Service.
Key sectors that propelled growth in the second quarter include mining, agriculture, health, transport, and information technology. However, the industrial sector saw a contraction of 1.9%, and the construction sub-sector experienced its most significant decline in five years, with a staggering 11.7% contraction.
The statistics agency also reported a slowdown in producer inflation, which declined to 28.3% in August, down from a revised 32.9% in July.
