Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adams has expressed confidence in the robust state of Ghana’s economy as the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government prepares to hand over to the newly elected administration of John Dramani Mahama.
Addressing the press in Accra on Tuesday, 17 December 2024, Dr. Amin Adam highlighted the substantial recovery and resilience demonstrated by the economy despite global and domestic challenges in recent years.
“We are handing over a strong economy,” Dr. Amin Adam declared.
He pointed to key indicators of economic health, noting that the first four years of the NPP administration were marked by impressive performance. This included Ghana’s longest period of single-digit inflation, an average GDP growth rate of 7%, and strong external balances. Despite encountering difficulties in 2021 and 2022, the economy has rebounded faster and more robustly than many had anticipated.
Dr. Amin Adam highlighted Ghana’s Gross International Reserves, which currently stand at US$8 billion, or 3.5 months of import cover, a significant improvement over the $6.2 billion of reserves inherited from the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2016. He also pointed to the economy’s growth trajectory, which has returned to pre-COVID levels. “The growth rates in 2024—4.8% in the first quarter, 7% in the second, and 7.2% in the third—reflect an average of 6.3%. This is significantly higher than the 3.4% average growth rate we inherited in 2016,” he explained.
On the private sector front, Dr. Amin Adam noted that credit growth had shown a sharp recovery, with nominal growth reaching 28.7% in October 2024, up from a contraction of 7.5% in the same period the previous year. “In real terms, private sector credit grew by 5.5% in October this year, compared to a contraction of 31.6% last year,” he added.
Dr. Amin Adam also outlined improvements in Ghana’s external balance. The trade balance surplus reached US$3.85 billion, while the current account surplus stood at 2.6% of GDP for the first nine months of 2024. Both figures represent significant improvements compared to deficits in 2016, including a trade balance deficit of US$1.8 billion and a current account deficit of 6.6% of GDP.
Addressing inflation, the Finance Minister acknowledged challenges but reassured the public that the government’s measures had significantly reduced inflation from a peak of 54% in December 2022 to 23% in November 2024. “Inflation is still high, but the measures we implemented have significantly stabilised prices and eased the hardship Ghanaians faced,” he said.
On public debt, Dr. Amin Adam emphasized the government’s efforts to reduce the debt burden. “The total public debt decreased by GHC46.8 billion, from GHC807.79 billion in September 2024 to GHC761.01 billion in October 2024. This reduction brought the debt-to-GDP ratio down from 79.2% to 74.6%, and we are on track to reduce it further to 55% in net present value terms, ensuring long-term debt sustainability,” he explained.
Dr. Amin Adam dismissed claims that Ghana is broke, describing such assertions as “propaganda.” He stressed that the country’s economic fundamentals are stronger now than they were in 2016 when the NPP government took office.
“We hope the incoming government will continue with the policies we have implemented to sustain this recovery and ensure that Ghana’s debt sustainability targets are met,” he concluded.
