Too early to say Ghana’s economy has turned the corner – Economist

An economist, Dr. Patrick Asuming, has said that it is too early for the country to say that the economy has turned the corner following the staff-level agreement reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on economic policies and reforms to conclude the first review of the country’s three-year program under the Extended Credit Facility.

In an interview on Citi FM, Dr. Asuming said that while there have been some signs of economic stabilization, it is important to see sustained improvement before declaring that the corner has been turned.

He pointed out that the currency has been relatively stable since the program started, but this is due in part to the suspension of foreign debt servicing.

Dr. Asuming also noted that the IMF has praised Ghana’s strong fiscal performance under the programme, with the country on track to lower the fiscal primary deficit on a commitment basis by about 4 percentage points of GDP in 2023.

But Mr Asuming told Selorm Adonoo in an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Friday that “I will hesitate to say we’ve turned the corner the way it’s being put out.

“It’s been clear that there is been some stability but we have to understand that if you take them case by case you will see that we probably need to see some sustained improvement before we can start saying we’ve turned the corner.”

“The currency which perhaps has seen the strongest stability since the programme started…It’s true that since January or February, the currency has been relatively stable If you look at the currency, we have to be mindful that we are not servicing the foreign debts that we are supposed to because of the suspension. So I am not sure that if we move that part away, it will be what it is.”