Bloomberg: Ghana’s GDP grows at fastest pace in five years, beats estimates

Ghana’s economy expanded at its fastest pace in five years in the second quarter, beating economists’ estimates by more than double, after better performances in its three largest sectors.

Gross domestic product grew 6.9% in the three months through June from a year earlier, compared with a revised 4.8% in the prior quarter Government Statistician Samuel Kobina Annim told reporters in the capital, Accra, on Wednesday.

The median of three economists’ estimates in a Bloomberg survey for expansion was 3.3%. The cedi traded relatively unchanged at 15.7 per dollar at 10:56 a.m. in the capital, Accra. Ghana bonds maturing in 2032 rose 0.2 cents to 52.59 cents on the dollar.

The better-than-expected outcome may boost Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia’s election campaign. Bawumia, who is the ruling New Patriotic Party’s presidential candidate for the 7 December vote, is considered the underdog to opposition leader John Dramani Mahama for the top job because of public frustration over the NPP’s handling of the economy and the high cost of living.

The West African nation is exiting a prolonged debt restructuring and is in the second year of an International Monetary Fund program that’s included painful austerity measures.

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