West Africa’s second largest economy posted a 3.2% decline in growth for the second quarter of the year. This is the first time Ghana will slip into a negative growth period in about four decades.
During an exclusive interview on Arise Xchange on Wednesday, Anthony Coleman, a principal research economist and Senior Manager at Afreximbank in Cairo said the 3.2% gdp contraction in Ghana was not expected by the authorities but reflects a disruption the Covid-19 pandemic has caused in the resource rich country.
He further stated that over-reliance on agricultural products could further drag down Ghana’s GDP, and in order to avoid this, the country needs to process most of its primary produce and diversify its main sources of growth.
Coleman advised the authorities in Accra to prepare bankable projects and programmes to attract more foreign direct investments.
The Afreximbank official also told Arise News that the trade finance institution has been providing facility support to back Ghana’s trade across Africa in order to prevent default in obligations.
Meanwhile Ghana’s Central is scheduled to hold its key monetary policy rate at 14.5% when it meets next week on September 28th as inflation still remains above its target, printing 10.5% last month.