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Ghana's economy slows down in 2Q

Xinhua, September 29, 2016 Adjust font size:

Ghana's economy recorded a slower growth of 2.5 percent during the second quarter (Q2) of 2016, compared to the 3.8-percent growth recorded in the same quarter last year, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) announced here on Wednesday.

GSS statistician Philomena Nyarko said the value of the economy, with oil included, was 38.16 billion Ghana cedis (9.62 billion U.S. dollars), compared with 32.28 cedis (8.14 billion U.S. dollars) in the same quarter last year.

"The provisional 2016 Q2 Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), including oil, grew by 2.5 percent year-on-year. The non-oil provisional 2016 Quarter 2 Real GDP grew by 6.2 percent year-on-year, compared to 4.4 percent recorded in Q2 of 2015," she announced.

The Quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted 2016 Q2 GDP grew by 0.6 percent, compared to 1.1 percent recorded for 2016 Q1.

Ghana's economy grew at almost 15 percent in 2011 and at an average of around 8 percent on account of first year of commercial oil production until 2013 when fiscal slippage, lower cocoa, gold and oil prices, coupled with energy crisis, caused difficulties.

This led the government to enter a three-year Extended Credit Facility (EFC) program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), leading to lower spending and leaving economic growth below four percent.

Nyarko attributed the lower Q2 economic growth to the difficulties that halted oil production on Ghana's Jubilee field between March and May.

"Between 2015 Q2 and (the same period in) 2016 the year-on-year (oil sector) growth rate was negative 49 percent which is due to the shutdown of the production vessel FPSO Kwame Nkrumah. That is the major issue that is accounting for the lower GDP growth rate," she explained. Endit