Ghana’s economy will accelerate by 8-9% in 2012 – African Dev’t Bank

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is forecasting that the Ghanaian economy will grow between 8-9 percent by end of 2012.

“The economy will grow between 8 and 9 percent in 2012,” Marie-Laurie Akin-Olugbade, the AfDB’s Resident Representative in Ghana told ghanabusinessnews.com in an interview at the Euromoney Conference in Accra February 7, 2012.

According Akin-Olugbade, the Bank agrees with the 9 percent growth target set by the Ghana government for 2012.

The Ghana government according to its 2012 budget is targeting a “real non-oil GDP growth of 7.6 percent; real overall GDP growth of 9.4 percent” with an average inflation of 8.7 percent as well as a gross international reserve of not less than three months of import cover for goods and services for the year 2012.

“We don’t have any significant departure from what the consensus seems to be 8-9 percent. Yes I think it will be around that level and we agree,” said Akin-Olugbade.

South African-based bank, the Standard Bank Group also says Ghana’s economic growth will ease to 8.25 percent by the end of 2012.

“Broadly due to our larger base influence, we see growth easing to around 8.25 percent year-on-year,” said the Group in its African Markets Revealed report released January 19, 2012.

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in October 2011 estimated that the economy will grow 13.6 percent in 2011 as compared to the growth of 7.7 percent in 2010 but Standard Bank says in its report “We see growth moderating to an annual average of 16.3 percent y/y in 2011, which is still above the government’s budget estimate of 13.6 percent y/y.”

Ghana’s unadjusted gross domestic product (GDP) growth has declined to 12 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2011 from the revised 17.6 percent figure recorded in the second quarter of 2011, the GSS said on Wednesday January 25, 2012.

By Ekow Quandzie