Ghana’s Budget Deficit To Dip to 4.9% in 2016

Ghana’s budget deficit has been projected to slide to 4.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product, GDP, in 2016, against an initial projection of 5.3 percent.

President John Mahama revealed this earlier in the week, in a speech to present highlights of the ruling party’s manifesto ahead of an election in December.

The West Africa Coast’s Gross domestic product is expected to grow more than 8 percent next year, compared with a projected 4.1 percent this year, he said.

Positive economic news is crucial for Mahama’s hopes of winning a second and final four-year term in office, given that the economy slowed sharply in the years after he came to power in 2012.

The slowdown was caused by lower global prices for gold, oil and cocoa exported by Ghana and a fiscal crisis that forced the government last year to begin a three-year aid deal with the International Monetary Fund.

“Our opponents have been seeking to belittle our achievements, claiming that we have benefited from more resources than any other government in our country’s history,” the president said.

Mahama is expected to face a tight contest against Nana Akufo-Addo, leader of the New Patriotic Party, which ruled the country for eight years until it lost an election in 2008.