Economy records growth under development agenda — NDPC
The economy made significant strides during the implementation of the first Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA I), as average income per person (per capita income) increased from US$1,292.5 in 2010 to US$1,570 in the 2012, overall assessment by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).
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This means the agenda helped to marginally exceed the per capita income target of US$1,567.27 ahead of the planned date of December 2013.
The Director-General of the Commission, Dr Regina Adutwum, made this known today at a consultation meeting with development partners on the second GSGDA, which would span 2014 to 2017.
Other improvements recorded during the period included the single digit inflation target attained in 2010, and sustained until the end of 2012 when it lost ground to double digit again.
Also, the ease of doing business rankings improved from 92 out of 183 in 2009 to 63 out of 183 in 2012.
According to her, an assessment of the framework so far indicated that the economy improved considerably, especially during the periods 2010 and 2011.
“Percentage of households with access to electricity increased from 66 per cent in 2009 to 72 per cent in 2012; and percentage of population with sustainable access to safe drinking water sources increased from 59 per cent in 2009 to 63.4 per cent in 2012 in rural areas. In urban areas, it improved from 58 per cent in 2009 to 62.9 per cent in 2012,” Dr Adutwum said.
Highlighting other progress made, Dr Adutwum said school enrolment also increased at all levels, especially at the primary school and junior high school levels.
Out Patient Department (OPD) visits per capita improved from 0.55 in 2006 to 1.17 in 2012 and overall life expectancy for both males and females continued to improve from 60 years in 2008 to 66 years in 2012.
The three-year medium-term development framework was developed in 2012 to lay the foundation for the structural transformation of the economy through industrialisation in manufacturing, agriculture and sustainable exploitation of Ghana’s natural resources, such as oil and gas.