These are the key sectors that experienced a contraction

Business news for Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2020-09-29

As the easing of coronavirus restrictions indicates a step in the right direction, Ghana’s economic recovery is expected to be gradual.

This is due to the restrictions imposed in early March this year to reduce the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Ernest Addison, announcing his latest decision on the monetary policy rate, estimated that the Ghanaian economy will grow between 2.0 and 2.5 percent in the third and fourth quarters of 2020.

He added that headline inflation, after rising sharply to 11.4 percent in July 2020, has started to decline, which is now 10.5 percent in August 2020, due to falling food prices. .

However, the central bank has provided an update on some key sectors of the economy that witnessed a contraction as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

These are the sectors below:

The industry and services sector

According to the Central Bank, the industry and services sector was the most affected sector of the economy. The sector contracted 5.7 percent and 2.6 percent respectively.

Subsectors

In the Industry and Services subsectors, the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic was Hotels and Restaurants. The sector contracted sharply by 79.4 percent.

The Commerce and Manufacturing sector, according to the central bank, contracted 20.2 percent and 14.3 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, the central bank said that high-frequency data despite the contraction in the second quarter of 2020 indicates some green shoots of economic recovery activity.

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, for his part, explained that the surveys conducted by the central bank for August 2020 showed that consumer confidence is recovering strongly and is currently above the levels prior to blocking.