Ghana's economy will grow by a continent-leading 13.5 percent this year thanks to the onset of oil revenues, but the fiscal deficit may exceed the government's projections, a Reuters poll showed on Friday. Ghana, already a large gold and cocoa producer, started pumping oil from its offshore Jubilee field in December 2010, making it the latest country to join the club of African crude exporters.
A poll of ten economists put Ghana's Gross Domestic Product growth at a median 13.5 percent in 2011, easing to 8 percent in 2012. This compares to the government's revised projection of 14.4 percent for 2011 and the International Monetary Fund's 13.4 percent. The growth forecasts ranged from a low of 11.5 percent to 16.7 percent high, according to the survey.
The rapid pace of growth will be largely commodities-fed, with oil output expected to reach 120,000 barrels per day this month, cocoa production seen hitting a record 1 million tonnes, and gold sales also on the rise. Analysts added that Ghana is well-poised to defend itself from a slump in global crude oil futures to below $90 a barrel after it hedged its share of 2011 production at $107.