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Accra - Ghana cut its economic growth forecast for 2016 to less than last year’s level, which was the lowest in more than two decades, as the country reduced its targets for oil and gold production.
West Africa’s largest economy after Nigeria will likely grow 3.2% this year after expanding 3.9% in 2015, the slowest in more than two decades, Finance Minister Seth Terkper said in a statement on the ministry’s website.
The ministry previously estimated a 5.4% expansion in 2016.
The change in the growth outlook for the year follows a "revision of gold production forecasts for 2016 to 2018 and the shutdown of the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah" oil production vessel on the Jubilee oil field, Terkper said in the statement.
Ghana also revised its fiscal deficit target for 2016 to 5% of GDP from 5.3%, according to the ministry’s statement that will serve as guideline for the preparation of the medium-term budget.
The fiscal deficit may improve to 3.6% of GDP in 2017, 3% in 2018 and 2.3% in 2019, the finance ministry said.
The nation forecasts total income of 56.7bn cedis ($14.4bn) in 2016, 60.1bn cedis in 2018 and 67.3bn cedis in 2019, the ministry said in the statement.
