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Business news for Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Source: myxyzonline.com
2021-03-09
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo
President Nana Akufo-Addo has said that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by five percent (5%) by the end of 2021.
The president made it known on Tuesday when he delivered his first State of the Nation (SONA) speech of his second term in Parliament.
He said that although the COVID-19 pandemic had affected the country’s economic outlook, he promised to lead the country to improve the economy.
He said, among other things, that his government would lead a “rapid industrialization” campaign that will result in “a value-added economy” that will be driven by one of its flagship programs, One District, One Factory (1D1F).
He said 232 1D1F projects are in various stages of completion, which would help boost the industrialization sector.
The Akufo-Addo projections come at a time when the international rating agency, Fitch, has said in its latest paper on “ Energy sector debt is a risk to Ghana’s post-pandemic debt trajectory ” that Ghana’s debt will reach approximately 75 percent of Gross Domestic Product from 2024.
Consequently, debt will continue to increase in 2021 and 2022 due to high spending related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the realization of energy sector liabilities.
A report from the Ghanaians Times said that “Fitch affirmed Ghana’s sovereign rating (B / Stable) in October 2020, with the expectation of a gradual recovery, both in economic performance and in fiscal revenues following the pandemic shock, the availability from external and internal sources of financing, and the eventual stabilization of debt / GDP ”.
The report said: “However, Ghana’s public finances are hampered by a history of internal arrears and contingent liabilities that will continue to increase its public debt.”
