Menu

The Ghana Statistical Service said on Wednesday that the country’s GDP growth rate slowed to 2.5 per cent in the second quarter of this year. The economy grew by 4.8 per cent in the first quarter.

Philomena Nyarko, Government Statistician and CEO of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), attributed the slowdown in GDP growth to a halt in oil production caused by a technical fault at the country’s main production vessel – FSPO Kwame Nkrumah.

"The economy is growing but not at the same rate as the first quarter, when it was 4.8 percent," Nyarko told a news conference in Accra. The CEO of GSS also said the revised 2015 second quarter GDP stood at 3.8 percent.

Ghana produces about 100,000 barrels of oil per day from its offshore Jubilee field, which is operated by Tullow Oil, a British firm. Oil production was suspended between March and May this year due to a technical fault. Production has since resumed.

"Between 2015 Q2 and (the same period in) 2016 the year-on-year (oil sector) growth rate was negative 49 percent and that was due to the shutdown of the FPSO. That is the major issue that is accounting for the lower GDP growth rate," Nyarko said.

Ghana's economy grew at 3.9 per cent in 2015, according to the World Bank which forecasted a rebound to 5.2 per cent in 2016.

As Ghana prepares to head to the polls in December, the state of the economy has become a major issue for voters, who will choose between President John Mahama and his main challenger, Nana Akufo-Addo. The country’s inflation rate rose marginally in August to 16.9 per cent after falling for two consecutive months.