The Bank of Ghana’s high-frequency real sector indicators pointed to a continued pickup in economic activity in the first month of 2024.

According to the Central Bank, the updated real Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) recorded an annual growth of 3.5% in January 2024, compared to a contraction of 7.6% observed for the same period of 2023.

The key growth drivers in the Index were port activity, imports, industrial consumption of electricity, domestic VAT, and tourist arrivals.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank’s latest confidence surveys conducted in March 2024, reflected sustained improvements in business sentiments.

While the Consumer Confidence Index remained broadly unchanged from the January 2024 survey, business confidence sentiments improved further as firms indicated meeting their short-term targets and expressed optimism about company and industry prospects.

Results from the confidence surveys were broadly aligned with the observed trend in Ghana’s Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) which also signaled an improvement in business conditions.

The PMI rose marginally above the 50.0 benchmark to 50.2 in February 2024, and from 48.4 in January 2024.