EditorDespite the adverse effect of COVID-19 on economies, International Monetary Fund(IMF) has said that the Ghanaian currency, Cedi has remained fixed in value as against U.S dollars.
The IMF made this known in its 2021 article IV consultation with Ghana on Monday, releasing a statement with its findings.
It said, “The Ghanaian Cedi remained stable against the U.S dollar, partly due to central bank intervention and gross international reserve remained at 3.2 months of imports”.
“External and domestic financing conditions tightened at the start of the pandemic but have improved since Ghana successfully returned to international capital market for $3billion Eurobond issuance in March 2021” the statement said.
It also said that Ghana government has managed to handle Covid-19 pandemic and also its economy.
Although Ghana’s growth slowed down to 0.4% in 2020 from 6.5% in 2019, it also noted the hike in price of food and an increase in poverty.
The statement said Ghana’s fiscal deficit dropped to 15.2% GDP and an extra 2.1% on additional spending with the help of bulk domestic arrears, including energy and financial sector cost.
In view of this, the IMF projected Ghana growth to hit 4.7% in 2021, in response to activities around mining, service delivery and cocoa farming.
IMF also projected that inflation will remain within the Bank of Ghana’s target.
“The current deficit is projected to improve to 2.2% of GDP, supported by a pick up in oil price and gross international reserves are expected to remain stable”.
The IMF added that “2021 budget envisages a fiscal deficit of 13.9% of GDP in 2021, including cost of a energy and financial sector, and a gradual medium-term fiscal adjustment which would support a decline in public debt, starting in 2024”.
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