Ghana records growth rate of 0.9 percent, says IMF report

An economic growth forecast released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) according to its October 2020 World Economic Outlook Report has forecasted that Ghana has a growth rate of 0.9 percent this year, according to a news report by Ghana Web.

This matches the growth forecast made by Ghana's own Ministry of Finance in its 2020 mid-year budget review and revision as presented to Parliament by Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta.

However, it is slightly lower than the forecast made by the World Bank that shows 1.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product growth. It is also less than half of the latest revised forecast of between 2.0 percent and 2.5 percent announced by the Bank of Ghana at the end of its latest Monetary Policy Committee meeting in Accra at the end of September.

So far, most business chieftains in Ghana are optimistically opting for the Bank of Ghana's forecast on the grounds that it is the latest from an institution on the ground in Ghana with access to the latest high-frequency data.

Indeed, there are expectations that the Finance Ministry will shortly announce a higher, revised forecast since it has access to the same data as the Bank of Ghana and indeed collaborates closely with it with regards to economic management.