BoG Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison
The Bank of Ghana’s (BoG) latest confidence surveys conducted in October 2024 revealed a sustained recovery in business sentiments.
While consumer confidence was broadly unchanged, business confidence improved as firms met their short-term targets and expressed optimism about company and industry prospects.
A statement issued by the BoG after the 121 regular meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Friday in which the Committee maintained the policy rate (the rate at which the
BoG lends to commercial banks) at 27 per cent, said the survey’s findings were broadly consistent with trends observed in Ghana’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which also signalled an improvement in business conditions.
The PMI increased to 50.6 in October 2024, up from 49.1 in September.
Meanwhile, in the domestic economy, high-frequency indicators point to continued improvement in economic activity.
In the third quarter, the Central Bank’s high-frequency real sector indicators pointed to a sustained pick-up in economic activity.
The updated real Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) recorded an annual growth of 2.2 per cent in September 2024, compared to a contraction of 0.4 per cent in the corresponding period of 2023.
“Major drivers of the improvement in economic activity include increased in port activity, households and firms consumption of goods and services, construction activities, credit to the private sector, and higher tourist arrivals,” the statement said.
The BoG said the domestic macroeconomic conditions remained stable, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-Extended Credit Facility programme implementation remained on track.
“Data observed through October 2024 indicated broad stability in the macroeconomic indicators. Growth outturn so far has been strong, and leading indicators of economic activity are projecting stronger growth in the second half of the year; business and consumer confidence is slowly turning around, core inflation remains broadly stable, the financial sector inflation expectations remain broadly anchored, reserve build-up has been sufficient to provide confidence, and the currency is recording some appreciation, the BoG explained.
Moreover, it stated that the third review assessment of the IMF on the economy and on programme implementation also reflected a positive assessment and led to a Staff level Agreement. Indications are that the IMF Board will meet in December to assess programme implementation thus far and assess forward-looking prospects of the economy.
