The Ministry of Finance has projected recovery of the economy from 2021 following what it describes as harsh effects of COVID-19.
According to the Chief Economics Officer at the Ministry, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, the policy programmes and policies outlined in the mid-year budget review by the ministry will propel growth to at least 4.6% in 2021 and increase steadily in the subsequent years.
Due to the economic impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, the government revised the country’s GDP figures for 2020 from 6.8% to 0.9%.
Addressing a virtual conference on the mid-year budget review, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu revealed that the projections for the country’s economic growth including growth excluding the oil sector show that various interventions will yield positive results and will help the economy bounce back.
“In spite of the heavy COVID-19 impact on 2020 which is seeing growth actually come down, the policies and programmes and interventions put in place in our view will lead to a recovery in 2021,” he said.
He said the Ministry sees “growth picking up to 4.7% in 2021 and increasing to 5.8% in 2022 and 5.4% in 2023 and the same 5.4% in 2024.”
For the non-oil growth, he projected that will end 2024 with a growth rate of 6%.
“The growth is not just coming from oil. Non-oil growth is also picking up from the revised 1.6% in 2020 to 4.2% in 2021 and this is expected to crease to 5.1% in 2022 and 4.9% in 2023 and increase further to 6% in 2024.”
