The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has reported that Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) demonstrates a strong economic recovery despite global challenges and ongoing debt restructuring efforts.
According to the latest figures from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), economic growth for the second quarter (Q2) of 2024 surged to 6.9%, a significant rise from the 4.7% growth recorded in the first quarter of 2024.
In a statement released on Thursday, September 19, the MoF said, “The economy’s robust recovery is in response to the macroeconomic stability and growth interventions that government is pursuing under our IMF-supported Post Covid-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG).”
The Ministry highlighted that real GDP growth for the first half of 2024 has rebounded strongly, with a year-on-year average growth of 5.8%. This figure is more than double the 2.9% growth seen during the same period in 2023.
“The 2024 first half-year growth of 5.8% is supported by a 4.8% expansion in the economy in Q1 2024 and 6.9% in Q2 2024. The 6.9% growth recorded in Q2 of 2024 is the highest quarterly GDP growth recorded in the past 5 years. Non-oil GDP growth for the first half of 2024 was equally robust with a growth rate of 5.6%, significantly higher than the 3.8% recorded in the first half of 2023. The first half-year economic expansion is supported by Q1 growth of 4.3% and Q2 growth of 7.0%,” the Ministry stated.
They further pointed out that, “It is instructive to note that the 5.8% overall growth for the first half of 2024 is significantly higher than the 1.5% growth target for 2024, which was later revised to 3.1% during the 2024 Mid-Year Review of Fiscal Policy presented in Parliament in July 2024.”
The Ministry also emphasized that Ghana’s economic performance in the first half of 2024 surpasses that of countries which have undergone similar debt restructuring. “Given that Ghana completed its domestic debt restructuring programme in 2023 and is currently in the process of completing its external debt restructuring programme, the growth performance for the first half-year of 2024 is much higher than the growth recorded by countries which have undergone similar debt restructuring programmes in the past. A case in point is Jamaica which recorded average real GDP growth of 1%-2% for about a decade post its debt restructuring,” the statement noted.
Moreover, the Ministry noted that all sectors of the economy—Agriculture, Industry, and Services—contributed to the impressive growth in the first half of 2024.
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