The gradual improvement in the general economic activity in the country continues to reflect in the performance of the construction sector. According to the Bank of Ghana, economic activity in the construction sub-sector, as measured by the volume of cement sales, rose to 1,062,902.24 tonnes at the end of the first quarter of 2021 from 814,979.29 tonnes recorded in the first quarter of 2020. This represents a year-on-year growth of 30.4 percent.
Similarly, total cement sales during the review period increased by 5.0 percent when compared with 1,012,441.80 tonnes recorded during the fourth quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, the Bank of Ghana attributed the recent improvement in total cement sales to a pick-up in construction activities during the review period.
Also, Transport-related economic activities, measured by vehicle registration by DVLA, improved by 33.4 percent to 96,093 in the first quarter of 2021. In the last quarter of 2020, DVLA registered a total of 72,048 vehicles, lower than those registered in Q1 2021. Similarly, the number of vehicles registered during the review period surged by 163.0 percent relative to 36,539 vehicles recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020. The improvement recorded in vehicle registration, according to the Bank of Ghana, was due to an increase in vehicle importation during the quarter.
Industrial Consumption of Electricity
Furthermore, recent statistics show that there is gradual improvement in the productive sectors of the economy. The BoG’s data show that the consumption of electricity by industries, which is a proxy for activities within the productive sectors of the economy, went up by 5.5 percent, year-on-year, during the first quarter of 2021.
According to the Bank of Ghana, industries utilized 740.19 giga-watts of power in the first quarter of 2021, as against 701.88 giga-watts recorded for the same period in 2020. Likewise, industrial consumption of electricity also increased by 6.0 percent from 698.28 giga-watts utilized in the fourth quarter of 2020. The Bank of Ghana attributed the improvement in the electricity consumed by industries partly to increased industrial activity during the review period.
Manufacturing Activities
Furthermore, manufacturing-related activities, as measured by trends in the collection of direct taxes (income, corporate and others) and private sector workers’ contributions to the SSNIT Pension Scheme (Tier-1), posted a mixed outturn in Q1 2021. Data from the Bank of Ghana show that total direct taxes collected increased by 39.1 percent, year-on-year, to GH¢5,721.46 million in Q1 2021. This is higher than the GH¢4,113.91 million recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020.
On the contrary, total direct tax collected for the quarter under review, however, declined by 23.0 percent from GH¢7,435.16 million collected in the fourth quarter of 2020. In terms of contribution of the various sub-tax categories, Corporate Tax accounted for 48.0 percent, followed by Income Tax (PAYE and self-employed) with 43.1 percent, while other tax sources contributed 8.9 percent.
Contrariwise, private sector workers’ contributions to the SSNIT Pension Scheme (Tier-1) declined marginally by 2.6 percent year-on-year to GH¢594.82 million in Q1 2021, from GH¢610.81 million collected in Q1 2020. However, total contribution in the review period grew by 3.8 percent when compared with GH¢572.82 million recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020. The moderation in private workers’ contributions to the Tier-1 pension scheme, was partly attributed to a decline in the registration of new employees. Construction sector Construction sector
