The Bank of Ghana’s updated Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) recorded an annual growth of 11.9% in November 2020.

This compared with 3.4% growth a year ago.

The key drivers of economic activity during the period were construction, port activity, imports, manufacturing, and credit to the private sector.

Also, results from the BoG’s latest confidence surveys conducted in December 2020 showed improvements in both consumer and business confidence.

According to the Bank of Ghana, consumer confidence remained firm at pre-lockdown levels reflecting optimism about current economic conditions following the gradual lifting of the COVID-related restrictions.

“Business confidence improved significantly, reaching pre-lockdown levels, for the first time, as businesses met short-term company targets and expressed positive sentiments about growth prospects”, it pointed out.

Additionally, “price developments in 2020 were broadly driven by COVID-related factors, especially the spike in inflation observed during the second quarter which was on the back of events preceding the partial lockdown. This was followed by the subsequent easing in inflation pressures in the third and last quarters, as the restrictions were removed”.

Also, total liquidity increased significantly during the year [2020] driven by government’s fiscal stimulus programme, the complementary monetary policy measures implemented during the year to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the monetization of government bonds to pay depositors in the Specialized Deposit Institutions sectors.