Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- List of Acronyms
- PART ONE OVERVIEW
- PART TWO MACROECONOMY, TRADE & FINANCE
- 4 Persistent Public Sector Deficits & Macroeconomic Instability in Ghana
- 5 Effects of Exchange-Rate Volatility & Changes in Macroeconomic Fundamentals on Economic Growth in Ghana
- 6 Ghana's Exchange-Rate Reform & Its Impact on Balance of Trade
- 7 Export Performance & Investment Behaviour of Firms in Ghana
- 8 Household Savings in Ghana: Does Policy Matter?
- 9 Banking Competition & Efficiency in Ghana
- 10 Rural & Microfinance Regulation in Ghana: Implications for Development of the Industry
- PART THREE POVERTY, EDUCATION & HEALTH
- Index
4 - Persistent Public Sector Deficits & Macroeconomic Instability in Ghana
from PART TWO - MACROECONOMY, TRADE & FINANCE
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- List of Acronyms
- PART ONE OVERVIEW
- PART TWO MACROECONOMY, TRADE & FINANCE
- 4 Persistent Public Sector Deficits & Macroeconomic Instability in Ghana
- 5 Effects of Exchange-Rate Volatility & Changes in Macroeconomic Fundamentals on Economic Growth in Ghana
- 6 Ghana's Exchange-Rate Reform & Its Impact on Balance of Trade
- 7 Export Performance & Investment Behaviour of Firms in Ghana
- 8 Household Savings in Ghana: Does Policy Matter?
- 9 Banking Competition & Efficiency in Ghana
- 10 Rural & Microfinance Regulation in Ghana: Implications for Development of the Industry
- PART THREE POVERTY, EDUCATION & HEALTH
- Index
Summary
Introduction
Over the decade of the 1990s Ghana was considered an example among African countries regarding the pace and extent of the economic reforms affecting its trade regime, its financial sector, and the conduct of its fiscal and monetary policy (Kapur et al., 1991). This reputation was earned in the latter half of the 1980s when the government instituted a series of policy measures to rescue the economy from the depths of its most severe crisis in the post-colonial period. The Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) placed Ghana on a path of modest economic growth: from a per capita GDP of $309 in 1983,1 per capita income grew at an average rate of 1.8% per year to $371 in 1993. Despite this early promise, Ghana's economic growth has continued to be moderate; per capita incomes grew at only 1.5% per year from 1993 through 2000 to reach $411. At this rate, per capita income will double in 50 years. This is a far cry from the ambitious growth rates envisioned in official growth plans such as Vision 2020, which was predicated on per capita growth rates of 5-7% per annum. Yet, it was perplexing to most observers that in March 2001 the recently elected government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) sought relief under the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, as it dealt with the aftermath of a severe currency crisis.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Economy of GhanaAnalytical Perspectives on Stability, Growth and Poverty, pp. 78 - 94Publisher: Boydell & BrewerPrint publication year: 2008