Economy showing signs of strong recovery – Finance Minister

Finance Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam says Ghana’s economy is demonstrating formidable signs of a comeback.

During a press briefing on Monday, July 1, Dr Adam highlighted the positive economic indicators for the first quarter of 2024, suggesting a favourable outlook for the rest of the year.

“Growth, as we’ve heard from the previous two distinguished speakers, is proving to be more resilient and robust than initially programmed, and the economy continues to show strong signs of recovery, particularly in the first quarter of 2024,” he said.

Dr Adam emphasised that the overall macroeconomic environment remains stable as the government continues to implement the IMF-supported programme.

“The results were remarkable. Overall real GDP growth for quarter one 2024 was 4.7%, the highest since quarter one of 2022. This growth performance is better than the 3.1% growth recorded in the same period in 2023.”

He addressed the sectoral performance of the economy indicating significant improvements as industry led the growth at 6.8%, followed by agriculture at 4.1%, and services at 3.3%.

Dr Adam noted that the 2024 Quarter 1 GDP growth rate is the highest since quarter four of 2020.

The Finance Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to maintaining macroeconomic stability and fostering sustainable growth through continued implementation of the IMF-supported programme.

This announcement follows the completion of the IMF Executive Board’s second review of Ghana’s US$3 billion, 36-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) Arrangement.

Approved back in May 2023, this review was a critical checkpoint for the country.

The completion of this review meant an immediate disbursement of roughly $360 million, bringing Ghana’s total disbursements under the arrangement to about $1.6 billion.

The Finance Minister confirmed that the third tranche of the IMF’s 360 million dollar release is expected to hit Ghana’s account today, Monday, July 1.According to the IMF, Ghana’s performance under the programme has been generally strong.

Source:www.myjoyonline.com