Ghana's economy likely to hit full-blown recession – Lecturer

A senior lecturer at the Accra Technical University's business department, Daniel Osabutey, has predicted that Ghana will likely hit a full-blown recession. According to the lecturer, the country is still hinged on the Guggisberg economy of exporting raw materials and importing finished products. Mr Daniel Osabutey explained that even though the country has discovered oil in commercial quantities the demand and supply chain of the country has not changed. He noted that the low confidence in the cedi and the high inflation rate will likely push the country into a recession. He maintained that a recession is a point of no return for the country. He stressed the downgrade of the economy by the financial grading institutions has led to the scarcity in the supply of dollars into the country. He said Ghana imports 90 per cent of finished goods and exports only 10 per cent of goods. He noted that the fundamentals of every strong economy are a strong export market, high employment rates, and high industrialization. Mr Osabutey was commenting on the state of Ghana’s economy in an interview with the host of the Ghana Yensom morning show, Emmanuel Quarshie (The Hitman) on Accra 100.5 FM on Monday, October 24, 2022. He revealed that from 2018 to 2021, the government borrowed a whopping amount of US$11 billion from the Eurobond market only to shore up the cedi. He stated that because of the downgrades, Ghana's Eurobond is no more attractive on the international markets. The lecturer argued that the speculations on the cedi have led to people buying the dollar and hoarding them and that this has led to the fast depreciation of the cedi. He cautioned Ghanaians to desist from quoting prices of goods and services in dollars.

A senior lecturer at the Accra Technical University's business department, Daniel Osabutey, has predicted that Ghana will likely hit a full-blown recession. According to the lecturer, the country is still hinged on the Guggisberg economy of exporting raw materials and importing finished products. Mr Daniel Osabutey explained that even though the country has discovered oil in commercial quantities the demand and supply chain of the country has not changed. He noted that the low confidence in the cedi and the high inflation rate will likely push the country into a recession. He maintained that a recession is a point of no return for the country. He stressed the downgrade of the economy by the financial grading institutions has led to the scarcity in the supply of dollars into the country. He said Ghana imports 90 per cent of finished goods and exports only 10 per cent of goods. He noted that the fundamentals of every strong economy are a strong export market, high employment rates, and high industrialization. Mr Osabutey was commenting on the state of Ghana’s economy in an interview with the host of the Ghana Yensom morning show, Emmanuel Quarshie (The Hitman) on Accra 100.5 FM on Monday, October 24, 2022. He revealed that from 2018 to 2021, the government borrowed a whopping amount of US$11 billion from the Eurobond market only to shore up the cedi. He stated that because of the downgrades, Ghana's Eurobond is no more attractive on the international markets. The lecturer argued that the speculations on the cedi have led to people buying the dollar and hoarding them and that this has led to the fast depreciation of the cedi. He cautioned Ghanaians to desist from quoting prices of goods and services in dollars.