President Akufo-Addo delivering the address
President Akufo-Addo yesterday delivered his third annual State of the Nation Address (SONA) which touched on the performance of Ghana’s economy in the past year and where it’s expected to be this year and beyond.
He insisted that Ghana is in good health in spite of constraints and challenges the country may be facing.
The President said Ghana had just concluded a programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), saying “with continuing discipline, we shall sign off from the deal in April.”
The President said “the production in the economy, as measured by real GDP growth, has picked up very strongly in the last two years and from 3.4% in 2016, real GDP growth increased to 8.1% in 2017.”
In 2018, President Akufo-Addo said that “provisional data for the first three quarters indicate a strong real GDP growth of 6.0%, higher than the annual target of 5.6%. Real GDP growth for 2019 is forecast at 7.6%. Ghana’s recent GDP growth has placed it amongst the highest in the world.”
Apart from that, he indicated that “the fiscal deficit is being brought down from the 7.3% of rebased GDP in 2016 to a provisional 3.9% of GDP at the end of 2018,” while the debt-to-GDP ratio has declined from the 56.6% of GDP in 2016 to 54.8% at the end of 2018.”
“Inflation has dropped from 15.4%, at the end of 2016, to 9% in January this year, the lowest in six years, as announced by the Ghana Statistical Service last week. Interest rates are declining, and so is the Bank of Ghana Monetary Policy Rate. Our trade balance account, for the first time in more than a decade, recorded a surplus in 2017, and is expected to remain in surplus. In May 2018, a US$2 billion Eurobond was issued for 30 and 10 years of US$1 billion each with coupon rates of 8.627% and 7.625% respectively, and these were the lowest rate and the longest maturity in our history, signifying confidence in the economy”, he emphasised.
He said Ghana is the leading recipient of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in West Africa currently, adding “as we prepare to exit from the IMF programme in April, we expect the impressive figures and good performance to continue.”
“We have decided to institute a legal framework to help with the discipline and also passed the Fiscal Responsibility Law, Act 982, capping the deficit at 5% by law, and some two weeks ago.”
“We have done this because we know the temptation to go on a spending binge will always be there, we know election years will come around and there will be pressure on government to splurge, and persuasive arguments will be made that you have to stay in government to be able to implement your programmes,” he stated.
That notwithstanding, President Akufo-Addo disclosed that “I am bent on running a responsible administration, mindful of the next generation, and not merely the next election.”
“In the meantime, our efforts are bearing some fruits, and the world has taken notice of the improvement in our economic fundamentals and in September last year, after almost a decade, we received our first Sovereign Credit rating upgrade from Standard and Poor’s (S&P).”
The upgrade, according to him, saw the country move from B minus to B with a stable outlook.
“In December 2018, we also hosted the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, a visit that was historical in every sense, as this was the first time that an IMF Managing Director had ever stepped foot on Ghanaian soil.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent