The minister of finance, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam says Ghana’s economy is currently stronger than had been anticipated indicating that growth continues to exceed expectations.
During the Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament, he highlighted that the 4.7 per cent growth rate reported by the Ghana Statistical Service for the first quarter of 2024 exceeds the revised target of 3.1 per cent.
“Inflation is declining. End-June inflation rate of 22.8 per cent, a reduction of 31 percentage points since December 2022, confirms the target threshold of +/-2 of 15 per cent by tend 2024 is possible;” he said.
He mentioned that the exchange rate has stabilized as compared to December, adding that the 18.6 per cent depreciation rate to the US Dollar as of June 2024, represents an improvement over the 22.0 per cent recorded for the same period last year.
Accordingly, he stated that Gross International Reserves reached 3.1 months of imports as of June 2024 against 2.5 months of imports in the same period last year.
This progress he notes has been based on the choices and policies of government which has yielded results.
“Mr. Speaker, it is evident that we are on the right trajectory. The economy is rebounding stronger than anticipated. The choices we have made and the policies we are implementing are yielding results. We have reversed the negative trends, all the indicators are looking better. I want to assure you that we will stay on this path and continue to make the right choices. Our economic recovery is fast and strong.”
According to him, the country is living within its means indicating that expenditures have been run to ensure the country lives within the 2024 budget appropriations.
Dr. Amin Adam emphasized that the Government has sought to bring some urgency and speed to the implementation of key government programmes over the last six months in office.
He said the government has swiftly provided the necessary support for growth-enhancing initiatives.
He mentioned the conclusion of the second review of our Extended CreditFacility with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which led to the
disbursement of the 3rd tranche of 360 million US Dollars, bringing total disbursement to about US$1.6 billion.
Also, he said the Debt Restructuring programme with the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) has been completed; covering 5.1 billion US Dollars resulting in approximately 2.8 billion US Dollars of debt relief.
“This means that we will not service our debt to our official creditors from 2023 to 2026,” he continued.
Additionally, Dr. Amin Adam said the government concluded negotiations with our Eurobond holders, covering 13.1 billion US Dollars, which cancelled 4.7 billion US Dollars of debt and provided debt service relief of 4.4 billion US Dollars between 2023 and 2026.
“We have concluded our negotiations with five (5) of the seven (7) Independent Power Producers, which will lead to a saving of some US$6.6 US Billion over the lifetime of the Purchasing Power Agreements (PPAs);
We have reined in expenditures to ensure we are within the 2024 Budget Appropriation and exceeded the midyear revenue target by 0.2 per cent by end-June, 2024. In effect, Mr. Speaker, we are living within our means. Indeed, consistent with our programme with the IMF, we are on course to achieving a primary surplus of 0.5 per cent of GDP by end of the year.”
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Source: Flora Tang/ATLFMNEWS
