Economy

A few years ago, Ghana’s economy was one of the fastest growing in the world, with GDP growth rates stretching above 14%. But there has been a noticeable change from the unconstrained optimism of recent years. Ghana has missed fiscal deficit targets that, if lower than five years ago, are nonetheless creeping upwards, and the country is beset by rising inflation and a weak currency. As a result, in August 2014, after half a decade of impressive growth, the government entered negotiations with the IMF for fiscal relief. While Ghana is in a difficult position at the moment, its problems are seen as manageable, and the expectation is that the proposed IMF assistance package will help improve the country’s competitiveness on the global market without any undue disruptions.

This chapter contains interviews with Mona Helen K Quartey, Deputy Minister of Finance; Mawuena Trebarh, CEO, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC); and Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank.