Economic activity in the third quarter of the year shot up signalling a recovery in the economy, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison, has said.
Speaking after the 103rd meeting of the Monetary Policy of the BoG, Dr Addison said the Bank of Ghana’s updated Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) recorded an annual growth of 11.2 per cent in September 2021, compared with 10.8 per cent and 4.2 per cent in the corresponding periods of 2020 and 2019, respectively.
He explained that economic activity during the third quarter continued to point to sustained recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The stronger growth in the CIEA was driven by domestic VAT, industrial consumption of electricity, port activity, imports, and air-passenger arrivals,” Dr Addison said.
He said construction activities, however, slowed down somewhat.
Dr Addison said the results of the latest confidence surveys signalled continued improvement in both business and consumer sentiments.
“Businesses met short-term company targets and were optimistic about company and industry prospects as the yuletide approaches, despite concerns about high cost of raw materials and exchange rate depreciation,” he said.
In addition, Dr Addison said consumer confidence improved on account of positive economic prospects.
Meanwhile, provisional data at the end of October 2021 show a marked slowdown in the pace of expansion of key monetary aggregates.
Broad money supply (M2+) recorded an annual growth of 14.5 percent in October 2021 relative to 29.9 per cent in the corresponding period of 2020.
The moderation was explained by a 19.5 percent year-on-year contraction in Net Foreign Assets of the banking system, despite the 21.4 per cent growth in Net Domestic Assets.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
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