By Francis Ntow, GNA Special Correspondent, Bangkok
Bangkok, Oct. 14, GNA – Ghana’s economy is projected to grow by 5.7 per cent in 2026, placing the country among the 10 fastest-growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecast.
The projection, contained in the IMF’s October 2026 World Economic Outlook, is below the six per cent growth recorded in 2025 but exceeds the projected regional average of 4.5 per cent and the 3.3 per cent average for middle-income countries.
The report was released on Tuesday on the sidelines of the 81st IMF/World Bank Group Annual Meetings in Bangkok.
Among the 43 oil-exporting, low-income and middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Rwanda are projected to record the highest growth rates in 2026.
The IMF also projects Ghana’s inflation rate at 4.8 per cent in 2026, while the country’s external balance is expected to record a surplus equivalent to six per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The outlook comes as the Government prepares to introduce its New Economy initiative, a framework for the next phase of economic development, with a focus on value addition, job creation and sustained transformation.
Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Finance Minister, has said economic stabilisation is not the country’s ultimate goal but a foundation for sustained growth, job creation and long-term prosperity.
He attributed the continued improvement in growth to domestic financing conditions, lower government borrowing costs and sustained fiscal discipline as the country strengthened its recovery from the 2022 debt crisis.
At the 132nd Monetary Policy Committee briefing in September, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, said economic growth remained strong, driven by the services and industry sectors.
He said the Bank would continue to monitor domestic and global developments and take appropriate decisions to maintain price stability and support sustainable economic growth.
The IMF expects growth in Sub-Saharan Africa to remain at 4.5 per cent in 2026, although the regional average masks significant differences in the economic performance of individual countries.
The Fund attributed the divergent outlooks to differences in fiscal and monetary policy space, the pace of reforms, exposure to commodity price volatility, vulnerability to climate shocks and access to external financing.
It said oil-importing, non-resource-intensive economies faced greater pressure from higher energy and food prices, while some larger economies continued to benefit from earlier stabilisation and reform efforts.
The report also noted that these economies remained largely excluded from the global technology boom driven by artificial intelligence and continued to face challenges from declining official development assistance and tighter external financing conditions.
GNA
Edited by Kenneth Sackey
Reporter: Francis Ntow
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