The growth rate for Ghana for the fiscal year 2022 has been reduced by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 5.2 percent to 3.6 percent.

In a recent economic forecast study, the IMF voiced concern that nations like Ghana might be affected by the continued economic problems in industrialized nations, according to a Joy Business story.

However, it warned that if action is not taken to reverse the general downturn in the global economy, it is likely that the economies of industrialized nations will experience contraction.

“Global economic activity is experiencing a broad-based and sharper-than-expected slowdown, with inflation higher than seen in several decades”, the report said.

“The cost-of-living crisis, tightening financial conditions in most regions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the lingering COVID-19 pandemic all weigh heavily on the outlook. Global growth is forecast to slow from 6.0 percent in 2021 to 3.2 percent in 2022 and 2.7 percent in 2023. This is the weakest growth profile since 2001 except for the global financial crisis and the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic,” it added.

Despite the forecast, the IMF has cautioned that decisions by central banks in developed countries in hopes of checking inflationary pressures will rather impact economies such as Ghana’s along with fallouts from the Russia-Ukraine tensions.

Meanwhile, the latest forecast by the IMF for Ghana is slightly lower than the 3.7 percent growth rate announced by the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta.

He said this when he delivered the Mid-Year Budget Review before Parliament on July 25, 2022.

For the 2023 fiscal year, the IMF in its latest outlook said economic growth will slow down to 2.8 percent and is expected to peak strongly in 2027 to reach 6.8 percent.