Professor Peter Quartey, Economist and Director of ISSER
• Prof. Quartey has described recent economic growth rate estimates as encouraging
• He believes the growth can hit an average of 5% GDP by end of 2021
• The GSS says the economy expanded by 3.9% in the second quarter of 2021
Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, Professor Peter Quartey, has described recent economic growth rate estimates as encouraging.
This comes after the Ghana Statistical Service on Wednesday, September 15, 2021, announced Gross Domestic Product growth estimates indicating the economy expanded by 3.9% in the second quarter of 2021.
Reacting to the development in an interaction with Joy Business, Prof. Quartey said the latest estimates demonstrate signs of economic recovery following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The 3.9% growth rate is quite positive and encouraging. Then if you even look at the non-oil growth rate of 5.2%, it clearly tells you that the economy is certainly recovering. And all things being equal, we are likely to hit an average of 5% GDP by the end of the year”.
“I’m encouraged by the fact that manufacturing is growing at an average rate of 5% because majority of the people are employed within this sector. And therefore, it is quite encouraging that if that sector is growing it is likely to employ more people, so we reduce the unemployment rate, especially the youth who are unemployed – a lot of them being trained by the tertiary institutions, but yet cannot find jobs,” Prof. Quartey explained.
He, however, urged government to place key focus on making targeted investments in critical sectors to sustain the growth of the economy.
“That is positive and I think they [government] should continue to invest in the real sector in order to realise targeted growth rate for 2021,” he added.
Meanwhile, the economic expansion witnessed in the second quarter of 2021 is compared to the more than 5 percentage points of contraction experienced in the same for 2020.