Ghana is returning to a path of strong economic growth, with the International Monetary Fund projecting a growth rate of 5.7 per cent for 2026, placing the country among the 10 fastest-growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Although the projected real gross domestic product growth rate of 5.7 per cent for 2026 is lower than the six per cent recorded in 2025, it remains above the projected regional average of 4.5 per cent and the average of 3.3 per cent for middle-income countries.
The growth forecast is contained in the IMF's October 2026 World Economic Outlook, released on Tuesday on the sidelines of the 81st Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group in Bangkok, Thailand.
Among the 43 oil-exporting countries in oil exporting, lower- and middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Rwanda ranked the top three fastest-growing economies for 2026 in the IMF's latest projections.
The fund has also forecasted that Ghana would in 2026 record an inflation rate of 4.8 per cent, with the country's foreign earnings exceeding its import spending by six per cent of its GDP.
The development means the Ghanaian economy would be growing strongly in 2026, coupled with stable prices, while earning more from abroad than it would spend, with a strengthened cedi and reserves. This comes following recent economic stabilisation as the government prepares to unveil its New Economy programme, a blueprint for Ghana's next phase of economic development that would focus on value addition, job creation and sustained transformation.
Economic gains
Over the past two years, Ghana has made significant economic gains, supported by easing inflation, improved external balances and a recovery in economic activity.
Inflation declined from 23.8 per cent in December 2024 to 5.4 per cent in December 2025, while the cedi strengthened against major international currencies in 2025 following significant depreciation in the previous year. This has helped to reduce the cost of imports and ease exchange-rate pressures on Ghanaian importers.
The country also recorded improvements in its external position, supported by higher international reserves and a stronger balance of payments, as the government pursued fiscal consolidation and debt restructuring to restore macroeconomic stability.
Stabilising the economy
The Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, said stabilising the economy was not the country's destination, but the price of entry for sustained growth, job creation and long-term prosperity. He said the sustained improvements in growth reflected domestic financing conditions, lower government borrowing costs and continued fiscal discipline as the country strengthened its recovery from the 2022 debt crisis.
Strong growth
At the 132nd Monetary Policy Committee briefing in September this year, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, said the country's growth had remained strong, driven by services and industry. He said for the central bank, the most important thing to do was to continue to monitor both global and domestic developments and take appropriate decisions to ensure stable prices and support sustainable economic growth.
Divergent outcomes
The growth in sub-Saharan African countries, including Ghana, was expected to remain stable at 4.5 per cent in 2026, though this masked substantial divergence across countries, the IMF noted. It stated that the divergent outcomes reflected varying levels of policy space, pace of reform implementation, exposure to commodity price volatility, vulnerability to climate shocks, and uneven access to external financing.
Oil-importing, non-resource-intensive economies were more adversely affected by higher energy and food prices, whereas some larger economies continued to benefit from earlier stabilisation and reform efforts.