Majority of businesses optimistic about growth in 2018 – IEA Report

Business News of Thursday, 5 April 2018

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2018-04-05

Dr Osei Assibey  GDPplay videoDr. Eric Osei-Assibey is Adjunct fellow of IEA

Although overall business perception remained unchanged, vast majority of businesses in Ghana continue to express optimism in the country’s economic fortune translating into a favourable environment for businesses to thrive.

This is according to research findings from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) – Ghana’s first policy think tank committed to broadening debate on public policy; engendering private sector-led economic growth, and strengthening the pillars of democracy.

Speaking at the Launch of the IEA 2017 Business Confidence Survey Report, an Adjunct fellow of IEA, Dr. Eric Osei-Assibey stated that 82% of businesses are hopeful of positive economic outlook in the first half of 2018.

“In terms of expectation for the first half of 2018, vast majority of business expect the economy to perform much better, thus about 82%. Just about 12% think will remain the same and 10% expect the country’s economic woes to worsen.”

The survey which was also conducted in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors also came out with the findings that; about 65% and 84% in the agric and manufacturing sectors respectively are also optimistic of growth in the first half of the year under review.

These statistics do not come as a surprise as Ghana’s economy has been hailed by the World Bank as the fastest growing in the world.

Latest figures from the Bretton Woods institution shows Ghana leading the pack of top ten growing economies worldwide with an impressive 8.3% growth rate.

Much of the successes chalked by Ghana were birthed out of prudent initiatives which included measures to stimulate the private sector, a monetary policy that will stabilise the currency and reduce significantly the cost of borrowing in addition to a raft of tax cuts carefully nursed to bring relief to and harness a buoyant business environment.

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