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Ghana’s economy facing challenges - IMF
The IMF added that inflation has been slower than expect while applauding the narrowing of the current account deficit to 6 ½ percent of GDP.
“Ghana’s economy continues to face challenges. While the estimated economic growth of 3.6% in 2016 exceeded our target of 3.3%, the decline in inflation has been slower than expected. The current account deficit narrowed to 6 ½ percent of GDP, contributing to a small buildup of foreign exchange reserves," the IMF said in a press stament.
The statement follows a review of Ghana's IMF programme by an IMF Staff led by Joël Toujas-Bernaté.
They took stock of the 2016 economic developments and the outlook for 2017, engaged in a dialogue about the New Patriotic Party's economic plans, and discuss prospects for program engagement with the IMF.
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According to IMF, Ghana's fiscal deficit deteriorated to an estimated 9 percent instead of the projected target of 5¼ percent of GDP.
It attributed the deterioration to poor oil and non-oil revenue performance and large expenditure overruns.
“In 2016, the overall fiscal deficit (on a cash basis) deteriorated to an estimated 9 percent of GDP, instead of declining to 5¼ percent of GDP as envisaged under the IMF-supported program. The large deviation was mainly due to poor oil and non-oil revenue performance and large expenditure overruns. As a result, the government debt-to GDP ratio increased further to close to 74 percent of GDP at end-2016."
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