Ghana forecasts for 2016, an economic growth of 5.4% against 4.1% in 2015, said Minister of Finances, Seth Terkper, on February 9.

Addressing a press conference, Terkper added that Ghanaian authorities intended to lower the inflation rate to 10% this year against 17.7% the previous year.

Moreover, he added that Ghana could revise its budget for the year due to oil prices being lower than expected, recalling that this budget was based on a $53 per barrel oil price. Barrel of oil currently trades at $30.

From 2003 to 2012, Ghana’s GDP grew 7.5% per year mainly because of gold, cocoa and oil exports.

However, the West African nation which produces about 100,000 barrels of oil per day, started experiencing economic troubles in 2013 as public accounts suffered a severe degradation. This in turn led to a high budget deficit, an inflation which exceeded official previsions as well as a debt-GDP ratio of more than 70%.