A research by policy think tank Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) has predicted that Ghana’s GDP could shrink to as low as 2 percent this year.
Micro and small businesses in Ghana could be losing 2.2 million dollars per day as a result of the power crisis, ISSER has also revealed.
According to the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research, small business owners income have decreased by 48 percent due to lack of regular electricity.
Businesses such as dressmaking have now resorted to operating their machines manually, which is less expensive but slows production.
Meanwhile, a Senior Research Fellow at ISSER Dr. Charles Ackah says many more businesses are expected to lay-off workers and shutdown as desperation sets in.
There would be revenue loss and the already huge unemployment rate would automatically shoot up further, he noted.
“That means it is going to have a general effect on our GDP, we estimate that by the end of 2015 GDP would have fallen to about 2 to 2.3 percent. Already, last year’s GDP was 4.1 percent that is lower than we have had in the last 10 years. The average GDP we have had over the last two decades is about 5 point something percent.”
Source: Myjoyonline