Claim: 2016 GDP growth rate is the lowest in the fourth republic
Source: Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko
Verdict: False
Researched by Rabiu Alhassan
In a very much anticipated interview on Citi TV, a leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has claimed Ghana’s GDP growth rate in 2016 is the lowest in the fourth republic.
The about 1-hour long interview on Citi TV’s Face to Face programme, saw the NPP stalwart make a number of other claims that sort to pooh-pooh the record of the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.
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As part of the wide-ranging encounter with Journalist, Umaru Sanda Amadu, the Senior Partner of Law Firm, Africa Legal Associates touted the achievements of the current administration and suggested they stood a good chance of being re-elected in the December polls.
But how true is the claim that the 2016 GDP growth rate is the lowest in the fourth republic?
Claim
Mr Otchere-Darko, between minutes 22:57 and 23:08 said:
“2016 was 3.4% GDP growth. And you know what that meant? It was the lowest GDP growth for the whole of the fourth republic.”
Fact-Check
Ghana’s Fourth Republic was birthed on January 7, 1993, when the country’s 1992 Constitution came into effect after a chequered history of military interventions.
So, to be able to assess the comment, one must look out for the GDP growth rate between 1993 and 2019 but bear in mind that the Ghana Statistical Service has rebased Ghana’s economic calculations in 2010 and 2018.
“The figures will naturally have to be rebased if you want to compare…[But] whether you rebase or not the relative change is going to be the same.” A Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Economics Department Dr Ebo Turkson said in an interview with GhanaFact.
That notwithstanding our checks from World Bank computation [using constant 2010 U.S. dollars] found that Ghana’s 2015 growth rate of 2.17% is the lowest in the fourth republic.
“2015 was the year we did worse and not 2016. That was the year we went to the IMF.” Dr Ebo Turkson reiterated.
Attempts to reach Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko for a reaction following our findings proved futile. But GhanaFact will update this fact-check report if we duly get a response.
Verdict
So, the claim that Ghana’s growth rate in 2016 was the lowest in the fourth republic is false.
