Kofi Ahovi

  Preparations for the 2027 Budget are gathering pace, with the government deepening consultations on its proposed New Economy programme, which is expected to shape the next phase of Ghana’s economic transformation. The latest institution to be engaged is the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), which is expected to play a key role in tracking progress and assessing the implementation of the programme. Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson disclosed this after meeting the leadership of the NDPC, led by its Chairman, Dr Nii Moi Thompson, on Monday, September 7. According to Dr Forson, the engagement focused on the New Economy programme and the role of the NDPC in monitoring its implementation. The Commission’s involvement is expected to provide a mechanism for assessing whether the government’s priorities are translating into measurable outcomes. The engagement forms part of broader consultations being undertaken by the Finance Ministry ahead of the presentation of the ...

  Standard Bank’s Head of Africa Research projects Ghana's economy will expand by 5.9% to 6.1% in 2026, buoyed by structural support from gold mining expansion, critical infrastructure projects, and improved foreign exchange buffers. The economy's stronger-than-expected 2025 performance, achieving 6% growth against initial forecasts of 5.6-5.8%, has strengthened confidence in the medium-term outlook. Speaking at a webinar organized by Stanbic Bank Ghana on “Positioning for What’s Next: Navigating Ghana’s Evolving Market Landscape. Growth exceeded our expectations, printing at 6% for 2025. Given the base has changed now and is higher than we had expected, we still believe that growth in 2026 will be between 5.9% and 6.1%, with potential to pick up to between 6.2% and 6.3% in 2027,” Jibran Qureishi stated. This revised outlook reflects an upgraded assessment of Ghana’s growth trajectory, underpinned by both public investment and private sector expansion in key economic drivers. S...

  Ghana’s economy expanded by 6.4% in the first quarter of 2026, according to the latest data released by the Ghana Statistical Service. This represents a slight increase from the 6.2% recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, pointing to continued resilience in economic activity. Presenting a breakdown of the figures, Government Statistician, Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, said the services sector remained the dominant driver of growth during the period. He noted that non-oil Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 6.3%, indicating broad-based economic performance across key sectors. According to him, the services sector recorded the highest growth of 7.1%, supported by strong performances in information and communication, which grew by 25.2%, transport and storage at 13%, and trade at 7%. The industrial sector also saw a significant improvement, growing by 6.9% compared to 4.1% in the same period last year. This was driven by mining and quarrying, which expanded by 10.7%, as well as ...

 The Bank of Ghana Governor, Dr. Johnson Asiama, has stated that Ghana’s economy is still showing signs of resilience despite a difficult external environment. According to him, the overall picture since end-March 2026 is one of a domestically resilient economy navigating an increasingly difficult external environment — with the energy price shock from the Middle East conflict now the central risk shaping the near-term outlook. He disclosed this at the opening of 130 th  Monetary Policy Committee Meeting. The Governor noted that despite these gains, early signs point to re-acceleration of headline inflation in several advanced and emerging market economies, prompting several central banks that had commenced easing cycles to pause or reverse course. For a commodity-exporting, energy-importing economy such as Ghana, he said the transmission channels of this external shock are multiple and material — through fuel prices, transportation costs, import bills, and ultimately consumer...

  The Bank of Ghana Governor Dr. Johnson Asiama has disclosed that Ghana’s current account surplus for the first quarter of this year exceeded the same period in 2025 by US$652 million. According to him, these are signs that Ghana’s economy is still evolving and continues to undergo economic and structural changes. He disclosed this at the opening of the Monetary Policy Committee Meeting today May 18, 2026, at the Bank Square. According to him, the successful resumption of domestic treasury bond issuance earlier in 2026 signals a return of investor confidence. Government has also successfully issued a 7-year bond instrument, and steps are being taken to lengthen the maturity profile of existing GoG instruments”, the Governor stated. According to him, all these developments show that the domestic economy is evolving and continues to undergo economic and structural changes. MPC Meeting and Risk to Decision Speaking at the meeting, the Governor said there are number of risks in the ou...

 President John Dramani Mahama has announced that Ghana’s economy has surpassed the $100 billion mark for the first time, a milestone projected to place the country among Africa’s largest economies. Delivering the 2026 State of the Nation Address, President Mahama described the economic progress as “broad-based and comprehensive,” emphasising that all sectors of the economy have recorded remarkable improvement within his first year in office. The President highlighted the government’s success in stabilising the national currency, noting that the cedi appreciated by 40.7% against the US dollar, 30.9% against the British pound, and 24% against the Euro. We did not just arrest currency instability; we strengthened the cedi to put up a good fight against other currencies,” he said.

  Ghana’s economy remains highly vulnerable to fluctuations in global commodity prices and tightening international financial conditions, according to a new assessment by professional services firm PwC. The firm warned that while recent macroeconomic stabilisation efforts have delivered some progress, Ghana’s heavy reliance on commodity exports such as gold, cocoa and crude oil continues to expose the country to external shocks. PwC noted that swings in global commodity prices can significantly affect government revenue, export earnings and foreign exchange inflows, with direct implications for fiscal stability and economic growth. Exposure to External Risks According to the report, tighter global monetary policy — particularly in advanced economies — poses an additional risk by increasing borrowing costs and limiting access to external financing for developing countries like Ghana. Higher global interest rates tend to strengthen major currencies such as the US dollar, placing pres...

  President John Dramani Mahama has inaugurated a 12-member Presidential Advisory Group on the Economy to provide strategic guidance and policy direction for the management and transformation of Ghana’s economy. The high-level body has been tasked with reviewing current economic conditions and proposing measures to stabilise the macroeconomic environment, restore investor confidence and drive inclusive growth. Vice President Prof. Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang is among members of the advisory group, which brings together leading figures from academia, finance and industry. Other members include respected economist and private sector leader Kwame Pianim; renowned industrialist Sir Samuel Esson Jonah; Ishmael Yamson, a private sector leader and former member of the Presidential Advisory Group on the Economy (PAGE); and Nana Oye Mansa Yeboaa, former Deputy Minister of Finance and Trade and Industry, and former PAGE member. The committee also comprises Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, former Governor ...

  Ghana’s economy is projected to have expanded by 5.7% ± 0.5 percentage points in 2025. This will be higher than the International Monetary Fund forecast of 4.0% real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and 4.3% by the World Bank. According to IC Research, a leading market research firm, festivities-related spending in quarter 4, 2025, boosted household and private sector consumption, supporting trades, manufacturing, transport, and Information Communication and Technology, while crops remain resilient. We, however, expect construction growth to remain normalised below the double-digit expansion posted in the final quarter of 2024, although we see prospects for recovery above the momentum in 3Q2025 [third quarter of 2025]”, it added It continued that recovering household spending, driven by stable prices and a softer Value Added Tax (VAT) regime in 2026, will support sales revenue and gross margin, highlighting “Effective distribution networks and efficient management of stock kee...

  The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) after its emergency meeting has announced that the economy has seen some significant improvements with a positive outlook. In statement released on Friday, July 18, 2025, after the meeting to determine whether current conditions warranted any immediate action ahead of the scheduled 125th MPC meetings, the committee said all macro-economic indicators showed good results. Inflation expectations are broadly anchored, external buffers have strengthened, and confidence in the economy is returning. The Committee reaffirmed its commitment to support the recovery process without compromising the gains achieved so far”, it said. According to the committee, the disinflation momentum has strengthened, with headline inflation falling steadily for six consecutive months to 13.7 percent in June 2025, down from 23.8 percent in December 2024 as core inflation measures also show a re-anchoring of expectations. It added that real secto...

 Ghana finds itself in a troubling economic cycle—where prices of goods and services continue to rise, often without justification or regulatory oversight. While global and local economic dynamics do play a role, the absence of a strong, specialised national pricing regulatory mechanism allows unchecked price escalation that hurts the consumer, especially the vulnerable. The time has come for Ghana to establish a Pricing Regulatory Commission or Authority, a body dedicated solely to monitoring, evaluating, and setting fair price thresholds for essential goods and services. This institution will be different from, and operate independently of, existing consumer protection structures. It will serve as a stabilising force in the economy and help restore confidence in market fairness. Why the Pricing Regulatory Authority Must Be Separate from Consumer Protection Ghana currently has a Consumer Protection framework, backed by the Consumer Protection Act and implemented through institutio...

 An Economic Policy Advisor to the governing NDC has commended the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) which was spearheaded by former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, crediting it as a key turning point in restoring fiscal stability and gaining renewed international confidence. In an interview on Joy News’ PM Express, Dr. Sharif Mahmud Khalid, Economic Policy Advisor to Vice President Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang, acknowledged the significance and instrumentality of the programme in reversing the economic downturn Ghana faced in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and global inflationary pressures. He noted that the programme provided much-needed breathing space for the government to restructure its finances and re-engage rating agencies with a credible fiscal path. If you look at these [credit] ratings when we took office, remember that we started to make some gains thanks to the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme. That programme gave us some breathing space, and that...

 Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson has emphasized that the 2025 Budget and Policy Statement will be instrumental in stabilizing Ghana’s struggling economy. Speaking during a youth engagement session on X Spaces, hosted by social media influencer KalyJay, Dr. Forson acknowledged that despite recent efforts, the country’s financial situation remains precarious. Let me make this point: let’s not deceive ourselves that the country is out of the woods yet. Our economy is still in distress, and the first thing we will need to do is to take measures to bring us back to the stability that we deserve,” he stated. He outlined the new administration’s commitment to implementing policies that will foster economic stability, including efforts to control inflation, maintain a stable exchange rate, and create a more predictable economic environment. What we can do is to put together a framework where there will be a stable exchange rate, stable inflation, and a stable economy,” he added. Dr...

  The Agbogbomefia of Asogli State, Togbe Afede XIV, is livid about the state of Ghana’s economy, especially the ever-rising cost of living and the record indebtedness resulting from reckless borrowing  Togbe Afede XIV, at the 2024 Asogli Te Za Grand Durbar in Ho, said, “Our country is heavily indebted. The sad part is that we have accumulated so much debt, yet we lack so much, and one wonders where all the money borrowed has gone. "We are suffering the effects of high price increases. Inflation is very high in our country, and the calculated rate is softening recently only because of prior massive price increases - the base effect”. He said though the country is well-endowed, it is often vulnerable to external economic variables. Inflation has eaten so deep into the core of the economy that, “Our cedi knows only one direction, and that is depreciation. From a rate of four cedis to the dollar about eight years ago, it is now more than 16 cedis to the dollar, and that has been ...

 The Institute of Economic Affairs (IES) has alluded that Ghana’s economy is generally growing below its potential due to several factors. This includes low public investments, macroeconomic instability and the high cost of doing business. In its latest bi-monthly Economic Outlook, the IEA said achieving higher growth will require, in particular, leveraging the country’s huge natural resource wealth to increase investments in physical and human capital, lowering the cost of doing business and sustaining macroeconomic stability. Data published by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) showed that economic growth was generally on the upward trend between the second quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of 2024, with year-on-year Gross Domestic Product growth increasing from 2.5% to 6.9%. Non-oil GDP growth followed a similar trend as overall GDP growth during the period, increasing from 3.1% to 7.0%. In terms of sectoral growth, agriculture showed a fairly steady positive growth throug...

  The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori Atta, has said the implementation of fiscal adjustments and sustained investments have contributed to the stabilisation of the economy. He said since the 2023 Budget was presented to Parliament in November last year to date, the exchange rate had stabilised, inflation had softened and interest rates had declined, while plans for private investments had been announced due to increased investor confidence in the economy. Presenting a mid-year review of the 2023 budget to Parliament yesterday in fulfilment of section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act (PFMA), 2016 (Act 921), the minister said the government would continue to pursue adjustment and work hard to build and sustain a favourable macroeconomic environment. Colour After an anxious wait for the Mid-year Budget Review, which was rescheduled twice, Parliament gave the minister the opportunity to address the House in fulfillment of section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act (PFMA...

The economy is set for a slowdown again this year after failing to grow as expected in 2022. Growth slowed down to 3.1 per cent last year, below the target of 3.7 per cent, and is now set to dip further to below two per cent this year. Experts have agreed that the government’s target of 2.8 per cent growth is now elusive as debt pressures and funding constraints threaten the rate at which the economy can expand. Indeed, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that it expects the economy to grow at 1.6 per cent this year with dire implications on jobs and revenues to the public purse. Revision Economist and Lecturer at the Academic City University, Eugene Bawelle, said government would have to lower its 2023 gross domestic product (GDP) target of 2.8 per cent in the mid-year budget review after missing out on the 2022 target. Mr Bawelle said the 2023 budget was also out of gear as most of the revenue measures and external funding sources had not yet materialised due to the delaye...

  The value of Ghana’s economy grew from GH¢461.69 billion in 2021 to GH¢610.22 billion in 2022, provisional estimates from the Ghana Statistical Service has indicated. This represents a growth of 3.1 per cent which is slower than the growth of 5.1 per cent recorded in 2021. The 3.1 per cent growth is lower than the government’s projected growth of 3.7 per cent in the 2023 budget. It is also lower than forecasts from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the African Development Bank which projected a GDP growth of 3.6 per cent, 3.5 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively. Non-oil GDP grew by 3.8 per cent in 2022, compared to 6.6 per cent in 2021, while non-gold GDP also grew 2.1 per cent in 2022, compared to 7.1 per cent in 2021. Ghana’s 2022 GDP growth compares favourably with some of its peers on the continent, with Nigeria, Tunisia and South Africa, recording annual GDP growths of 3.1 per cent, 2.4 per cent and two per cent respectively. Countries such as Mauritius,...

  The president of the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) Dr Joseph Obeng says the country risks suffering a prolonged financial downturn if the current mismanagement and bad policies being implemented by state actors is not checked. He blamed the current economic crisis in the country to bad policies which are being undertaken by the state adding that it needs to be tackled by Headon.    He maintained that confidence in the economy is waning as a result of the DDEP and the government must restore confidence in the banking system. "I am afraid we will go back to the dark ages where people were afraid to send money to the bank, hide it under their beds because the Revolutionaries confiscated it , it took so many decades of education to change that mindset for people to trust the banks again," he stated. He called on the government to ensure prudent macro and micro economic management and ensure fiscal discipline to restore some semblance of confidence in the economy. S...

The Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana says its members and the business community have lost confidence in the President Akufo-Addo-led government and believe it’s time the government chart a new path in restoring the economy by bringing some form of hope to Ghanaians. It therefore described the 2023 State of the Nation Address (SONA) which was delivered by the president on March 8, 2023 as nothing short of hopelessness to the business community. In its reaction to the State of the Nation Address by President Akuf-Addo, it said in a statement signed by Samson Asaki Awingobit that “the president’s 2023 state of the Nation Address fell short of our expectations”. We thought the President would have taken advantage of the 2023 SONA to give some hope to the business community and even the ordinary consumers (citizens), however, the Nana Addo-led government once again confirmed our long-standing conviction that they (government) have lost touch with reality and the sufferings of G...