Ghana

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Country summary

Capital

Accra

Borders

Burkina Faso 549 km, Cote d'Ivoire 668 km, Togo 877 km

Government type

constitutional democracy

Population

23,887,812[1]

Population growth

1.897% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

60.1 years[1]

Unemployment

11% (2000 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

87[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

69[3]

Doing Business ranking

92[4]


Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. Ghana endured a long series of coups before Lt. Jerry RAWLINGS took power in 1981 and banned political parties. After approving a new constitution and restoring multiparty politics in 1992, RAWLINGS won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996, but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000. John KUFUOR succeeded him and was reelected in 2004. John Atta MILLS took over as head of state in early 2009.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Ghanaian cedi (ISO code: GHS)
  • Central bank discount rate: 17% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: NA%[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $NA (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $NA (31 December 2008)[1]

Notable events:

  • Banking crisis: 1982-1989, 1997[5]
  • Years in inflation: 45.3% (share of years 1957-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)
  • Public default: 1966, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1987 (external), 1979, 1982 (domestic)[6]

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[7] 7 710 4 977 5 309 6 160 7 624 8 872 10 720 12 722 14 942 16 653
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8]
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] 18.106 18.010 19.767 23.712 23.688 21.785 25.827
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] 18.712 20.029 22.020 23.479 22.746 25.034 29.450
Debt to revenue (years)

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Ghana", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  2. ↑ Heritage Foundation. "Ghana", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  3. ↑ Transparency International. "Ghana", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  4. ↑ Doing Business. "Ghana", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  5. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 365-366. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  6. ↑ Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 52. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  7. ↑ World Bank. "Ghana: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  8. ↑ World Bank. "Ghana: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  9. ↑ World Bank. "Ghana: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.
  10. ↑ World Bank. "Ghana: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.

Links

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