Ghana Q3 GDP growth rises to 9.3 percent

Ghana’s gross domestic product growth rose to 9.3 percent in the third quarter, up from 9 percent in the previous three months because of increased oil production, the statistics office said on Wednesday.
The rise marks a potential turnaround for Ghana’s economy, which grew at around 8 percent for years before a global commodity price slump caused a sharp slowdown in 2014.
That and a fiscal crisis forced the government to sign a $918 million credit programme with the International Monetary Fund in 2015.
The major commodity exporter is seeking to cut spending, restructure debt and aims to narrow consumer inflation to 8 percent, plus or minus 2 percent, by the end of 2017 under the credit deal with the IMF.
Producer price inflation in Africa’s second largest gold producer fell to 7.1 percent in November from a revised 8.2 percent in October, because of a fall in the oil sector, the national statistics office said.
Inflation in the mining and quarrying sector, which includes gold production, rose 1.9 percentage points over the October rate of 12.5 percent, acting government statistician Baah Wadieh told a press conference in Accra.
Inflation in manufacturing fell by 2.0 percentage points to 7.3 percent. Utilities recorded an unchanged inflation rate of 0.5.