by Pius Amihere Eduku
Ghana’s trade volume with the US is expected to double within the next three years following the increased trade engagements between the two countries.
According to the US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert Jackson, the volume of trade between the two countries is expected to increase from the current 1.2 billion dollars to about 2.5 billion dollars within the period.
Speaking to Citi Business News on the collaboration between the US and Ghana governments and its impact on fostering economic growth, Ambassador Jackson said the demand for Ghanaian textiles among other goods will culminate in propelling the anticipated growth between the two economies.
“We have inaugurated five new American companies since I started here in January and we have a lot of potential textile imports from Ghana to the US are increasing and I believe that we can double the trade volume from 1.2 billion dollars to somewhere 2.5 billion dollars in three years,”he stated.
Mr. Jackson’s comments also comes weeks after American brewing company, AB InBev, announced a takeover of Sabmiller which currently operates Ghana’s Accra Breweries Limited (ABL).
Though the Ambassador could not readily explain in detail how the takeover will impact Ghana’s economy, he indicated to Citi Business News of America’s support to propel economic drive.
“I do not know very much in particular of the operations of this company in Ghana but we want to assist companies to establish presence here so that more companies can create more jobs and help in the economic drive,” he further observed.
Inflation to decline with IMF program
Meanwhile Ambassador Robert Jackson is optimistic of a possible decline in Ghana’s inflation with the country’s program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
His basis of a positive outlook hinges on what he refers to as the stability in the depreciation of the cedi power challenges for some time now compared to what the situation was for a greater part of 2015.
“Since I have been here, I think dumsor has largely been addressed in the short term there is much more work to do and the currency is stabilized as we are not seeing depreciation and as long as Ghana sticks with the IMF program, we will soon see inflation going down and more economic growth going forward,” Mr. Jackson told Citi Business News.
The country has since her agreement with the IMF, received two tranches out of the 940 million dollars it is seeking from the fund.
Though the third review by the IMF mission has been concluded, the country is yet to receive the third tranche after the IMF Board approves the assessment.
Ghana is however considered by the fund as having performed satisfactorily in terms of reducing the public sector wage bill, cutting down on subsidies as well as reducing the country’s debt to GDP ratio.
To read the full piece from Citi FM, click here.