69% respondents believe the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme Ghana is seeking will restore macroeconomic stability

A 2023 pre-budget survey undertaken by international accounting and auditing firm, KPMG, has indicated that 69 percent of respondents believe the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program Ghana is seeking will restore macroeconomic stability.

The survey also indicated that 16 percent of respondents expect the program to promote inclusive and sustainable growth. 14 percent expect the program to anchor debt sustainability.

However, one percent believe that the program cannot help address the country’s economic issues.

The survey further indicated that the Ghanaian economy continues to respond to the impacts and shocks from COVID-19, amidst geopolitical instability, heightened macroeconomic pressures, and a looming global recession, which has all threatened the consistent gains made by the government toward achieving its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2030 Agenda.

Ghana’s economy experienced a rebound in 2021 following the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The expectation at the beginning of 2022 was that the economy would consolidate the gains made in 2021, albeit the medium-term impact of the pandemic was still expected to be felt.

As a corollary to this, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) had targeted a 5.8% growth in real GDP for 2022, representing a 0.4% increment in actual growth in 2021.

Provisional estimates from the Ghana Statistical Service revealed that the real GDP growth in the second quarter of 2022 was 4.8% as compared to the 4.2% same period in 2021.

In the mid-year review report, the MoF disclosed that real GDP growth in 2022 is expected to contract to 3.7%.

Rising energy prices and other externalities including the Russian-Ukraine war have altered the growth pattern of the global economy in 2022.

From an original prediction of 4.4%, the IMF has revised growth in the global economy to 3.2%.

The strong performance of the US currency has also resulted in the depreciation of the local currency.

While concern over the growing levels of public debt lingers, the inflation rate has been on an upward trajectory.

These occurrences have heightened uncertainty in the Ghanaian business environment.