Ghana’s Economy to Expand 13%

Ghana’s economy will grow by 13 percent this year, more than twice the rate of 2010, boosted by both oil and non-oil industries, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The expansion will be “evenly divided between growth of the non-oil economy and the start of oil production,” Peter Allum, the fund’s mission chief for the West African nation, told reporters in Accra, the capital, today. The projected rate is faster than the government’s planned 12.3 percent and more than last year’s 6 percent growth.

Ghana, the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer and Africa’s second-largest gold miner, began production of oil for export at its offshore Jubilee field on Dec. 15.

Output is expected to increase to 120,000 barrels a day later this year from the current rate of about 50,000 barrels, according to Tullow Oil Plc, the field’s operator.