Domestic economic activity continued to pick up in the first four months, the latest Monetary Policy Report by the Bank of Ghana has revealed.
The latest high frequency indicators, according to the Bank of Ghana, recorded broad-based improvement in key real sector indicators in March 2022 compared to a year ago.
Domestic VAT collections, private sector contributions to social security, industrial consumption of electricity and tourist arrivals all improved in the review period.
Domestic VAT collections increased by 21.5% on a year-on-year basis to GH¢649.93 million, from GH¢534.80 million.
On a month-on-month basis, domestic VAT improved by 10.8 percent in March 2022 from GH¢586.65 million in the preceding month.
Economic Activity
Cumulatively, total domestic VAT for the first quarter of 2022 went up by 14.7% to GH¢1.808 billion, compared with GH¢1.576 billion for the corresponding period of last year. The relative improvement in domestic VAT collections largely reflected increased household consumption during the review period.
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Retail sales, on the other hand, dipped marginally by 2.9% (year-on-year) to GH¢114.05 million in March 2022, down from the GH¢117.46 million recorded in the same period in 2021.
Compared to February 2022, retail sales declined by 5.6%.
Cement sales and port activity, also contracted in the review period.
Consumer spending, proxied by domestic VAT collections and retail sales, posted a mixed performance in March 2022, compared with the corresponding period in 2021.
Source: Business Analyst