Rise in COVID-19 cases will put pressure on economy

The economy will feel the full brunt of the impact of the COVID-19 should the country continue to record new cases, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison, has said.

He said the increasing rate of infections which would put pressure on the economy will change the projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth from an original estimation of over 7 per cent to 2 per cent.

Speaking on the Graphic Talks 360, a discussion organised by Graphic Business on the “Mid-year Review of the Banking Sector”, he said: “With the initial economic indicators that we have looked at for the first quarter of this year, some of these indicators came in relatively strong.

“If you look at the export of gold and cocoa, they have been relatively strong.”

Dr Addison said oil export had been impacted extremely because oil prices had declined sharply, adding that “it is a significant revision for the outlook on growth.”

He said the COVID-19 pandemic is a global pandemic which is unprecedented has never been seen before at the global level.

“In terms of the impact on Ghana we will need to have some more observations to really understand the full impact of the pandemic,” he said.

In terms of employment, he said businesses in the tourism, hospitality, management services and educational sectors have been impacted significantly.

“Some workers have been laid off whiles others have been sent on unpaid leave in other to manage the impact of the COVID-19,” Dr Addison said.