Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Ernest Addison, has declared that the economy's outlook is favorable, with macroeconomic indicators showing signs of improvement.

“We are quite confident about the outlook of the economy, as just last week we had a new reading of inflation, and this is the first time we have stayed on the disinflation path with inflation declining by three percentage points,” he said.

The Governor made these remarks during the 47th meeting of the Committee of Governors of Central Banks of the West African Monetary Zone and the 62nd Ordinary meeting of the Committee of Governors of Central Banks of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

This program was a part of the 2023 Mid-Year Statutory Meetings hosted by the Government of Ghana under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana, which included the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM), West African Monetary Institute (WAMI), and West African Monetary Agency (WAMA).

Notably, inflation decreased from 43.1 percent in July to 40.1 percent in August, following its peak at 54.1 percent in December of the previous year.

Dr. Addison, who delivered the keynote address, highlighted that in 2022, Ghana faced an economic crisis, prompting the government to seek an Extended Credit Facility of $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to restore macroeconomic and debt sustainability.

He further emphasized that the government is currently prioritizing the implementation of measures aimed at reestablishing macroeconomic stability and fostering inclusive economic growth.

“There are important lessons to be learnt from the ECF IMF pro­gramme which we will share with our colleagues in these meetings,” Dr Addison stated.

He mentioned that the meeting served as a platform to evaluate the progress of the member states within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in their pursuit of a unified currency.

Dr. Addison emphasized that the program, of greater significance, offered a chance to reassess the roles of monetary institutions like WAIFEM, WAMI, and WAMA in the roadmap leading to the launch of the ECO currency next year. It also provided an opportunity to delve into other economic and monetary developments within the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ).

“The question facing us at this meeting is what we shall do differ­ently after 36 years since the incep­tion of the ECOWAS Monetary Co-operation and 23 years since the second WAMZ was institut­ed,” he stressed, saying, “And this leaves next year a critical year in the lead up to the launch of the ECO under the roadmap in line with the new macroeconomic convergence,” he said.

Dr. Olorunsola Olowofeso, the Director-General of WAMI, noted that macroeconomic vulnerabilities had escalated within the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ).

These vulnerabilities were prompted by factors such as high inflation rates, an expanded fiscal deficit, increased debt burdens, currency depreciation, and restrictive financial conditions.

“Recent political instability had added to the woes of pre-existing insecurity challenges in ECOW­AS, exposing the fragile recovery of the WAMZ economies to the risk of reversal of macroeconom­ic gains and creating an environ­ment of uncertainty,” he stated.