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🇬🇭 Ghana /Economy & Trade

World Bank Praises Ghana’s Recovery but Urges Reforms to Sustain Gains

From Ghanaian Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Ghana’s economy grew 6% in 2025 and 6.4% in the first quarter of 2026, while inflation and public debt declined.
  • The World Bank said the recovery from Ghana’s 2022 crisis was real but remained incomplete because of poverty, weak revenue collection and insufficient capital spending.
  • The bank identified poor transport infrastructure as a constraint and is investing $500 million to rehabilitate about 1,050 kilometres of feeder roads.

Ghana’s economic recovery has reached a point where improved figures are colliding with stubborn weaknesses. The World Bank praised the rebound but warned that it will not last without deeper reforms and investment that reaches households and businesses.

real and measurable

— Robert TaliercioHe described Ghana’s recovery from the 2022 economic crisis.

Speaking at the launch of the Ghana 10th Economic Update in Accra, World Bank Divisional Head for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone Robert Taliercio described the recovery from the 2022 crisis as “real and measurable.” He also asked whether it was “built to last,” saying decisions made now would determine whether recent gains produce lasting transformation or remain vulnerable to another shock.

The headline indicators have improved. The economy grew 6% in 2025, its fastest pace since 2019, and expanded 6.4% in the first quarter of 2026. Inflation fell from 23.2% in February 2025 to 3.2% in March 2026, then stood at 4.6% in July. Public debt dropped from 70.3% of gross domestic product in 2024 to 49% at the end of 2025.

Ghana stands at an inflection point. The recovery from the 2022 crisis is real and measurable, but it also raises a harder question: Is it built to last?

— Robert TaliercioHe warned that recent economic gains could remain vulnerable without further reforms.

The World Bank also cited Ghana’s completion of the IMF Extended Credit Facility program, a primary surplus equal to 2.5% of GDP in 2025 and the rebuilding of foreign reserves as signs of restored economic credibility. But Taliercio said poverty remained high at 56.4%, domestic revenue collection was weak and capital spending came in 38% below budget. “Stability is a foundation. It is not a destination,” he said, arguing that growth must create jobs and reach communities that have benefited least.

Stability is a foundation. It is not a destination.

— Robert TaliercioHe said macroeconomic improvement must lead to jobs and broader improvements in living conditions.

Transport is another obstacle. Only 27% of Ghana’s 94,200-kilometre road network is paved, and more than half is in fair-to-poor condition, especially feeder roads. Poor connections raise business costs, limit farm productivity and discourage private investment. The World Bank is committing $500 million through the Ghana Market Access and Connectivity Project to rehabilitate about 1,050 kilometres of feeder roads under performance-based maintenance contracts. Taliercio cautioned that building roads without maintaining them would speed up the deterioration the project seeks to reverse.

Building roads without maintaining them simply accelerates the cycle of degradation that we are all trying to break.

— Robert TaliercioHe warned that transport investment would fail without adequate road maintenance.
About this summary

Originally published by Ghanaian Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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