Ghana�s economic growth slowed sharply to 0.3 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2013 due to a slowdown in the mining sector, compared with 1.6 percent growth in the third quarter of 2012, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said on Wednesday.
The country�s economy grew 6.1 percent in the second quarter. Ghana�s government projects 2014 growth of 8 percent in part due to exports of gold, cocoa and oil and the country is rated as Africa�s brightest prospects because of its stable democracy and sustained growth.
But a sharp fall in global gold prices in 2013 has affected production in that sector, the statistics office said.
�Most of the decline came from the mining and quarrying sector, especially the drop in gold prices that heavily affected production,� said Government Statistician Dr Philomena Nyarko said.
�We also experienced some down time at the Jubilee Oilfield so that affected overall growth,� Nyarko told a news conference, referring to planned maintenance work at the offshore field that is the country�s main producer.
Ghana�s annual producer price inflation rose to 15.3 percent year-on-year in December from a revised 13 percent in November, the statistics office said.
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