Ghana needs annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth above 8 per cent to create jobs for its expanding population, President John Mahama said on Wednesday.
Mahama, in an interview, was reacting to the country’s forecast GDP growth of about 3.9 per cent this year due to a fall in commodity prices.
Ghana’s economic figures for the second quarter of this year will be “much better’’ than in the first quarter, Mahama said, based on figures he had seen, which are yet to be released.
The cedi currency is seeing “some stabilisation’’ and is “finding its correct level,’’ he said.
Mahama said, however, that the country would need annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth above 8 per cent to create jobs for its expanding population.
The currency fell about 20 per cent earlier this year, bounced back strongly in June and early July, but has since given up much of those gains.
It stood at 4.0100 to the dollar on Wednesday.
Africa faces a long term challenge of creating jobs for an expanding population.
Ghana, with a population of about 25 million, saw GDP growth of about 8 per cent for years, due to exports of cocoa, oil and gold.
But growth has slowed sharply in the last two years and is forecast at about 3.9 per cent this year, due to a fall in commodity prices.
The low forecast is also due to a fiscal crisis the government is aiming to resolve with the help of International Monetary Fund aid.
