'Ghana's economic death spiral continues to spin' - Prof. Steve Hanke warns

Prof. of Applied Economics at the John Hopkins University in the United States, Steve Hanke has cautioned that Ghana is on the path of an economic death spiral.

The academic who has in the last few months posted critical verdicts on Ghana's economy cited inflationary figures for his latest take on the economy.

He insists that the Ghana Statistical Service was churning inflation figures far below the real rate describing the rate as 'rubbish.'

"Ghana's economic death spiral just continues to spin. Today, I measure inflation in Ghana at a stunning 84.95%/yr, ~1.58x the Ghana Statistical Services' phony official rate. The GSS is producing RUBBISH," Hanke tweeted on March 11.

Government working to attain IMF bailout

Government run to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2022 at a time the economy was in a downward spiral.

The government only recently secured a Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), which according to experts is a major conditionality of the lender in granting Board approval for a US$3 billion bailout.

The programme was meant to ensure the streamlining Ghana's unsustainable debt. Government announced an 85% participation rate.

Ghana is hoping to get the first tranche of the bailout by March this year in order to among others rein in inflation and arrest the galloping depreciation of the cedi.

Talks are currently underway with Ghana's external creditors in a bid to restructure loans in order to get IMF Board approval in March 2023.

In #Ghana, the #cedi is junk. By my measure, the cedi has depreciated ~49.77% against the USD since Jan. 1, 2022. Thanks to Pres. Akufo-Addo’s incompetence & economic mismanagement, the cedi has been entered into my rogue's gallery of JUNK currencies. pic.twitter.com/0ifxnyfUpF

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) March 11, 2023

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