Firms in steady recovery as gov’t stimulus packages make positive impact

Data from the COVID-19 Business Tracker survey for Wave III, between September 1 and 30, 2021, indicate that the sales of several Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) improved as a result of the government’s stimulus packages.

Small firms saw 22 percent rise in sales as a result of the favourable effect of the stimulus packages.

The findings of the survey were announced in joint statement issued by the World Bank, United Nations Deployment Programme (UNDP) and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).

It showed a significant decrease in the rate of reduction in hours worked, wage reduction, and leave without pay over the three data collection periods in 2020-2021 (Waves I-III).

In Wave III, 1.0 percent of the workforce was laid off across all businesses, compared to 1.3 percent in Wave I. Sales also increased by 33 percentage points between Waves I and III, with the change mainly driven by firms in the top 35th percentile.

The data also revealed that over 90 percent of local businesses were opened during the period of the survey. The figure is much higher than the about 73 percent and 86 percent of firms reported opened during the first and second waves of the pandemic, respectively.

“The findings from the third wave of the Covid-19 Business Tracker indicate that the government stimulus impacted positively on firms’ sales with an increase of 11.5. This positive response was evident among small businesses as their sales increased by 22 percent, the Government Statistician, Prof Samuel Kobina Annim, was quoted to have said.

Mobile money usage

The Wave III Business Tracker also showed the rising use of mobile money among firms for sales.

Data, compared to Waves I and II, revealed almost 7 out of 10 firms were using mobile money to do business, with mobile money usage increasing from 35.7 percent and 53.4 percent (Waves I and II respectively) to 69.6 percent (Wave III). Similarly, more businesses were adopting the use of the internet for sales.

Commenting on the survey, UNDP Resident Representative in Ghana, Angela Lusigi, underscored the need to reimagine development in the digital age.

“It is encouraging to see more firms embracing digitalisation as a default to improve business. UNDP remains committed to supporting government’s digital agenda and recovery efforts to accelerate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” she was quoted saying.

The top three policies supporting the desire of firms to become resilient were loans with subsidised interest, cash transfer and access to new credit.

World Bank Country Director for Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, Pierre Laporte, also noted that the improvement recorded over the periods was remarkable.

“We also need to pay attention to the policy supports required by the firms. The World Bank will continue to support the Government of Ghana in its efforts towards the country’s economic recovery,” he noted.

COVID-19 Business Tracker

The COVID-19 Business Tracker is a collaboration between the Statistical Service and UNDP and the World Bank, which aims at providing critical information to help the Government of Ghana, development partners.

Through the Business Tracker survey, the Ghana Statistical Service aims at providing critical information to help the Government of Ghana, development partners and other organisations monitor the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses.

The overall objective of the survey is to track the socioeconomic impacts, measures to mitigate this impact, and efforts to build better recovery for the people of Ghana.

The Business Tracker Survey is part of the global Business Pulse Survey (BPS) initiative of the World Bank, surveying the impact of COVID-19 on the private sector in more than 50 countries.

For the Ghana survey, 4311 firms were interviewed during the first round, of which 3658 were re-interviewed during the second-round, while 4,858 firms were interviewed during the third round, including 1200 new firms.