Accra - Ghana's unadjusted gross domestic product growth stood at 6.7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2014, down from 9.0 percent in the same period last year as industry struggles, the statistics office said on Wednesday.
The agriculture sector recorded the highest growth rate at 12.7 percent year-on-year, while the industry sector recorded a growth figure of negative 1.1 percent, Baah Wadieh, deputy government statistician, told a news conference.
“We are experiencing a lot of power and water problems and competition from outside,” Wadieh said of the manufacturing sector, which forms part of the industry sector and recorded a growth of negative 19.3 percent.
Ghana exports gold, oil and cocoa and its economy has seen five years of rapid growth, making it the envy of much of Africa.
But it is wrestling with fiscal problems including a stubborn budget deficit, escalating inflation and falling currency.
Annual producer price inflation rose to a 33.1 percent year-on-year in May from 31.5 percent in April, its highest level since Jan 2010, with mining and quarrying rising 10.0 percentage points in May compared with last month.
Producer price inflation is an advance indicator of consumer price inflation, which rose to 14.8 percent in May driven mainly by a persistent depreciation of the local cedi currency. - Reuters