World

Ghana Q3 GDP growth rises to 9.3 percent

Published December 20, 2017 Updated December 20, 2017 09:47pm

The rise marks a potential turnaround for Ghana's economy, which grew at around 8 percent for years before a global commodity price slump caused a sharp slowdown in 2014.

 

That and a fiscal crisis forced the government to sign a $918 million credit programme with the International Monetary Fund in 2015.

The major commodity exporter is seeking to cut spending, restructure debt and aims to narrow consumer inflation to 8 percent, plus or minus 2 percent, by the end of 2017 under the credit deal with the IMF.

Producer price inflation in Africa's second largest gold producer fell to 7.1 percent in November from a revised 8.2 percent in October, because of a fall in the oil sector, the national statistics office said.

Inflation in the mining and quarrying sector, which includes gold production, rose 1.9 percentage points over the October rate of 12.5 percent, acting government statistician Baah Wadieh told a press conference in Accra.

Inflation in manufacturing fell by 2.0 percentage points to 7.3 percent. Utilities recorded an unchanged inflation rate of 0.5.

 

Copyright Reuters, 2017