Category: News

 

A former Finance Minister, Dr Kwabena Duffuor, has said Ghana is suffering from a youth unemployment epidemic that must be tackled urgently.

In an article, the former Governor of the Bank of Ghana said: “Over 60% of this country are under 36 years of age, the youth is literally the future of this country, and we are sacrificing our collective future by ignoring their needs”.

“It is said that we do not inherit the earth, but merely borrow it from our children, and we owe it to them to do better, to allow them to dream, flourish and grow. A combined youth employment – and infrastructure package should be at the top of the agenda for the next government because we have no time to lose”, the founder of media conglomerate EIB said.

He added: “It is unworthy a country like Ghana to have foreigners employed while our youth is suffering, and it is equally undignified to have our infrastructure crumble before our eyes”.

“We can solve both by making them a priority, and we can literally build our future while saving our youth. My father built with his hands and through his toil, I was allowed to build things with my mind, to create and succeed through ingenuity and entrepreneurship”, Dr Duffuor said.

Read Dr Kwabena Duffuor’s full article below:

Building our future, saving our youth

Youth is supposed to be a time of excitement, possibility and hope, a time without the worries of adulthood, when we have the freedom to plan and build for the future.

Unfortunately, the youth of Ghana are being robbed of these possibilities, denied the opportunities afforded to previous generations, including my own. Employment is about more than a job, it is about having dignity, freedom and being self-sufficient.

It is human nature to want to support oneself, to not be a burden to society, but in order to make that happen the government must provide the opportunity to do so, to help our youth to get their foot in the door. As more and more young people are joining the workforce, we must apply a strategic approach to job creation, to make sure that our nation’s future – our youth – are not being left behind. I’m the son of a humble stonemason, but thanks to the sacrifice and generous help of my father, uncle and extended family I was able to receive an education, and through their hard work and my own I was able to work my way up to where I am today.

 

I am immensely grateful for the success I have achieved, and knowing the humble beginnings from whence I came, I feel a great responsibility towards the younger generation, to make sure they will have the same opportunities as I did to make something of themselves and change their life for the better.

 

There is currently a massive brain drain in this country, where are best and brightest young people leave Ghana in search of opportunity, because there is none on our shores.

 

As our youth leave school, they don’t have hope for gainful employment, so those who are able to seek opportunity abroad do so, while others fall into unemployment and poverty, living hour-by-hour without any ability to plan.

 

The political remedy to this issue is two-fold: the first is to incentivise companies in hiring Ghanaian youth, whether it be unskilled labour or newly graduated academics. We achieve that by offering companies tax breaks for hiring people aged 18-36, thus making youth employment profitable for companies.

 

While the state will carry part of the cost of those wages, the cost of unemployment is a tremendous economic and social burden on our society, with hardship that cuts across and is inherited through generations.

 

Secondly, we need to create new jobs that will cater to both unskilled labourers and the academically inclined, so that we avoid creating a two-tiered society where higher education is the only way to succeed.

 

By making comprehensive infrastructure investments across the country, which will provide employment opportunities for both unskilled labour and newly graduated academics from across the professional spectrum, we would not only be saving one generation but building a Ghana that is fit to serve many more – a modern, well-built Ghana, with roads, bridges, buildings and railways fit for a growing country, filled with hope and confidence.

 

Ghana is suffering from a youth unemployment epidemic, and we must act.

 

Over 60% of this country are under 36 years of age, the youth is literally the future of this country, and we are sacrificing our collective future by ignoring their needs.

 

It is said that we do not inherit the earth, but merely borrow it from our children, and we owe it to them to do better, to allow them to dream, flourish and grow. A combined youth employment – and infrastructure package should be at the top of the agenda for the next government because we have no time to lose.

 

It is unworthy a country like Ghana to have foreigners employed while our youth is suffering, and it is equally undignified to have our infrastructure crumble before our eyes.

 

We can solve both by making them a priority, and we can literally build our future while saving our youth. My father built with his hands and through his toil, I was allowed to build things with my mind, to create and succeed through ingenuity and entrepreneurship.

 

I never take that journey for granted, nor does a day pass that do not thank God for the opportunities I was given. I was lucky to be allowed to dream of a better life and make it happen, and I want every young person in Ghana to have a chance at achieving the Ghanaian dream, a real opportunity at making something of themselves so that they can help build, run and better this great country.

 

We owe this to our children, and we owe it to ourselves.

 

 

The Registrar-General, Jemima Oware, says from October 1, publish the names of two hundred and twenty-two dormant companies whose names have been struck out of the Companies Register.

According to her, these companies will be classified as being inactive and will not be able to be accessed for any business transaction for the next 12 years except by a Court Order to the Department for reinstatement.

Speaking at the launch of the Companies Insolvency Act 1015, Registrar-General, Jemima Oware, urged the public to inform the Department of any company that owed them before they are expunged of the Companies Register.

“We have about 222 companies that have voluntarily given us the permission to strike their names off the register because they are not doing business. So, what we intend to do is that, from the 1st of October we will publish these names in the Dailies and in the gazette. After which we will strike their names off the register. What this means is that they cannot come back and anybody who wants to do business with them will not find their names in the register,” she said.

“If there is anybody out there that these businesses owe, it’s an opportunity for them to come and inform us so that we will put a hold on the company while they settle their debts before the names are taken off the register. We will continue this process of updating the records till the end of the year and then we will put out another list. As we put out the notices, people will realise that we are serious. The companies must make sure that they update us. By not updating us it means that they are not in business and people should not do business with them,” she added.

Companies are required by the Companies Act 2019 (Act 992) to update their records and file their financials with the Registrar-General eighteen (18) months after incorporation and at every financial year whether the Company was in business operation or not in operation.

Since 2011, about 200,000 companies have failed to file their annual returns and financial statements despite several notices and reminders.

As part of efforts to curtail the trend, the Registrar General’s Department has issued numerous warnings to this effect.

In April 2021, the RGD issued its third and final public warning of its intention to purge its Register of names of dormant companies pursuant to Section 289 of the Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992).

The Department recently served notice to the Business Community and the public that it will end its validation of dormant companies at the end of September this year.

The exercise which commenced on 1st July, 2021, was to validate dormant Companies which adhered to the directive of the Registrar of Companies to file their Annual Returns with the Department or risk been delisted from the Companies Register.

 

 

Economist and lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Adu Owusu Sarkodie has urged the government to consider renegotiating old contracts in the extractive sector which do not offer the country value for money.

He wants government to become an active participant in the production process in the extractive sector having not less than 55% of active participation in production activities in the extractive sector going forward.

Data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows that government revenue from Ghana’s extractive sector relative to the size of the sector is way below the average for its peer countries in the developing world. Government’s revenue from the extractive sector, as a share of the sector’s value-added, stands at only 19.3%.

“You know, we started producing oil in commercial quantities in 2010 and recorded them in the 2011 budget. And so, we have existing contracts. If possible, we must renegotiate all those existing contracts and make sure we get value for money”,  

“Now, for all the new discoveries that we have, our recommendation is that not only should government have increased shareholdings in all these discoveries, but government should actively participate in the production process. The recommendation is that the government of Ghana should have not less than 55% in active production of the extractive here sector.”

However, the averages for the African, middle income and all the developing economies in the sample stand at 49.7%, 54.2% and 50.9% respectively.

Dr. Adu Owusu Sarkodie, further highlighted the improvement in revenue that will be achieved if government improves its participation level in production in the extractive sector.

“It cannot be done within a year, it cannot be done today, it’s a gradual process, and we need to start from somewhere. That’s why we are happy that GNPC is taking the bold initiative to go into production. It is a good step. We can extend the same agreement to gold production in Ghana. Government of Ghana must actively participate in the production process so that we can earn as much as Botswana and Nigeria are earning. When we can do that, per our 2018 calculations, government with 50% active participation in the production process will be able to raise GHC 20 billion every year. About GHS13 billion from the minerals sector and GHS7 billion from the oil sector.”

 

 Adnan Adams Mohammed

The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has signed an agreement for a $1.5 billion syndicated loan facility at an interest rate of 1.1 percent plus libor for cocoa related programs for the 2021/2022 cocoa crop season.

COCOBOD has assured farmers and cocoa merchants of prompt payment as it has enough funds to be used to purchase cocoa beans for the crop season.

The loan, which will be paid back in seven months, is expected to also help COCOBOD purchase about 600,000 metric tonnes of cocoa for the season and boost the cocoa sector’s speedy recovery from the pandemic.

“We all know the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the sector. If you compare where we are now to this time last year, we were down on our shipment by about 30% and demand basically for cocoa and cocoa related products just collapsed. We are recovering from it, and thanks to all the measures that we have taken and put in place, we are very confident that with the 1.5 billion, the problems relating to delays in payment may be a thing of the past,” Deputy Chief Executive in charge of Finance and Administration at COCOBOD, Ray Ankrah, said during the signing ceremony in Accra, last week.

However, the Chief Executive of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, speaking at the ceremony expressed his gratitude to the banks for their trust in Ghana’s cocoa industry for which reason they are willing to fund the operations of the industry.

He also assured all stakeholders that the loan will be used solely for the purpose for which it has been contracted.

Meanwhile, Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto says the money will help in the implementation of policies to help develop the sector.

Overall, a total of 24 local and international financial institutions participated in the syndication.

These include Standard Chartered Bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

The signing comes months after Ghana’s cocoa sector experienced some positive developments.

COCOBOD exceeded its production target to reach a record 1.06 million metric tons for the 2020/21 season, beating the previous record of 1.024 million metric tons in the 2010/ 2011 crop season. Also, global demand for cocoa is projected to grow by 2.2% for the next crop season.

Since the 1992/93 crop season, COCOBOD has consistently and successfully, through the pre-export syndicated finance facility, obtained a receivables-backed syndicated loan each year from the international money market to finance its cocoa purchases.

According to the Ghana Cocoa Board, (COCOBOD), it is targeting about nine hundred and eighty thousand metric tonnes of cocoa for the 2021/2022 crop season. However, the 1.5-billion-dollar syndicated loan for the 2021/2022 crop season, which will be paid back in seven months, is expected to help COCOBOD purchase about 600,000 metric tonnes of cocoa for the season and boost the cocoa sector’s speedy recovery from the pandemic.

 

 

Adnan Adams Mohammed

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat has hinted that the ‘rules of origin’ policy required to guide intra Africa under the agreement is expected to be ready in few weeks’ time.

The Secretariat hopes that by the next trade ministers meeting, somewhere October 10, 2021, the completed document should be ready. 

The rules of origin are critical and will have a significant impact on how African companies trade with their counterparts across the continent

“We have made 80 percent progress. Out of almost 8,000 products, we’ve agreed on 86 percent of those rules. We have a little bit of work to do in automobiles, textiles and clothing and sugar”, Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General of AfCFTA said. “But I believe in the next few weeks when the ministers of trade converge in Accra, on the 10th of October, I think we will find a solution”.

The African Continental Free Trade Area with a combined population of more than one billion people and a combined GDP of over USD 3 trillion seeks to improve trade amongst member countries.

To ensure this, the agreement seeks to remove various trade barriers like duties on goods on services.

But to establish this under the agreement, there must be a clear definition for goods made in the country and this has necessitated the policy of ‘rules of origin’.

There are thousands of tariffs, and these rules will specify whether a product can be categorised as “Africa made” and eligible for tariff reliefs.

Without this in place, some trade groups like the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) have raised concerns, stating that it would be a major setback in the implementation of AfCFTA.

GUTA argues that without clear-cut determinations on goods made on the continent, some may abuse the provision and include any product found within the region, irrespective of their origin.

 

 

Provisional results from the 2021 Population and Housing Census have revealed that Ghana currently has a population of 30.8 million.

Government Statistician, Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, while presenting the provisional results on Wednesday, noted that between 2010 and 2021, 6.1 million persons have been born, increasing the population from 24.7 million to the current 30.8 million.

 

Of this number, females make up 15.6 million, while the other 15.2 million are men. The following report details the findings in the just ended census.

The 24.7 percent increase in Ghana’s population by 6.1 million from the 24.7 million recorded in 2010 constitutes an annual intercensal growth rate of 2.1%.

This rate is less than what was observed in the previous intercensal period, between 2000 and 2010 (2.5%) and is the lowest observed since independence.

Overall, females make up 50.7% of the population and males 49.3%, giving a national sex ratio of 97 males for every 100 females.

Over ten million (10,661,421) structures were counted during the listing, out of which 8,547,391 (80.2%) are fully completed i.e. roofed with windows and doors fixed.

The total number of households has grown by 2.8 million (representing a 52% increase) over the 5,467,136 households enumerated in 2010.

Greater Accra Region recorded the highest number of both residential and non-residential structures, with 19.3% of all the total structures listed.

Greater Accra Region is now the most populous region in Ghana, marginally overtaking the Ashanti Region, which has been the most populous region since 1970.

On the other hand, the Ahafo Region is the least populous region, taking the place of the Upper West region, which had been the least populous in all the previous post-independence censuses.

 

 Adnan Adams Mohammed

Rocksure International and Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Company has signed a strategic mining agreement to develop the Nyinahin-Mpasaaso bauxite resources.

The deal valued at US$1.2 billion in all consist of a US$200 million construction of a bauxite mine at Nyinahin-Mpasaaso in the Ashanti region of Ghana and a bauxite refinery of about US$1.0 billion.

Ghana government announced last week that, it has picked Rocksure International as a strategic partner to help in developing a bauxite industry. Ghana’s bauxite reserves are estimated at 900 million tonnes.

“Rocksure will own a 70 percent stake in the project and the state-owned Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development will have the remaining 30 percent”, Michael Ansah, Chief Executive Officer of GIADEC said in an emailed statement last week.

The mine is expected to produce 5 million tonnes of bauxite a year and create more than 1,000 jobs, according to GIADEC.

Ghana has the potential to produce 10 million to 20 million tons a year, according to the state company founded in 2018 to create an integrated industry for the mineral.

Bauxite is a reddish ore that must be refined into alumina and then smelted to produce aluminium.

GIADEC is looking to partner with private companies to develop infrastructure worth as much as $6 billion to leverage the West African nation’s bauxite.

The $1.2 billion project is one of four for which GIADEC is seeking investors.

Adnan Adams Mohammed

 

An energy think-tank is asking government to immediately remove the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy on diesel and petrol to forestall the increasing spate of the price of the products.

 

The group is of the view that the surge in the price of the petroleum products, if left unchecked, is likely to continue until year end.

 

This comes in the wake of an upward review of the petroleum products in the second half of September.

 

“These marginal increases if left to continue would further worsen the cost of transportation, general goods and services to invariably affect all other productive sectors of the economy and economic life,” it predicted in a statement issued last week and signed by the Executive Secretary of Chamber of Petroleum Consumers-Ghana (COPEC), Duncan Amoah.

 

Refined oil prices have seen a surge over the past few days, rallying on to an all-time high of above $720/metric for Gasoline and above $600/metric for gas oil as of Wednesday, September 15. This is just from a week earlier of Tuesday, 7th September, 2021 as reported by API indicating a six week high.

 

The price of crude (WTI) climbed 3.16% on Wednesday, reaching $72.69 by 10:00 am – up $2.23 per barrel on the day while Brent crude climbed 2.89%, up $2.13 per barrel, reaching $75.73.

 

Prices of finished products particularly Gasoline (petrol) has surged from $694/MT as of Monday, September 13 to above $720/MT as of Thursday, September 16, representing 3.7% increment.

 

While Gasoil (diesel) prices has seen an increase from $572/MT as of Sunday, September 12 to $604/MT as of Thursday, September 16, representing 5.6% increment.

 

The statement said aside the international market prices affecting the pricing of the petroleum products, the local currency has seen a further depreciation in recent times as compared to major trading currencies, particularly the US Dollar.

 

“The two key indicators, that is international market prices and foreign exchange differentials, are all likely to affect average pump prices of petroleum products by between 2% to 3% or (10p/Litre for both products ) in this second pricing window of September, 2021.

 

“This would likely translate to reviewed figures by the various Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) as those selling at current prices for gasoline and gasoil at GH¢6.38 could be reviewed upwards to between GH¢6.45/-GH¢6.52/L for both Gasoline and Gasoil.”

 

COPEC is therefore calling for immediate measures to forestall the trend.

 

It gave an option that if the recovery levy is not removed, then there should be the need for “authorities working through the Ministries of Finance and Energy to apply the already collected funds accruing to the Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy Fund to offset or stabilise the FOREX and price differentials from increasing on the price build up”.

 

It is also calling for a further review downwards of other taxes such as the special petroleum tax (SPT) on petroleum products ahead of the presentation of the 2022 budget statement.

 

It is also demanding an “immediate and a thorough review of the entire petroleum price deregulation programme with the view to limiting the overbearing influence of both taxes and forex on pump prices”.

 

 

Adnan Adams Mohammed

 

The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has called on the Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to place a cap of 5 percentage points on commercial banks lending rates.

 

IEA believes such a move is key in addressing the recent call by the President, Nana Akuffo Addo, and borrowers on the long-standing issue of high lending rates in the country. It proffer that, one key measure that should be considered is a temporary regulation of the lending rate spread is to compel banks to follow the Policy Rate more closely.

 

The latest surveys by the Ghana Association of Industries captured that, the high lending rate is among obstacles to doing business in Ghana, making it a major impediment to investment and economic growth. But, the Director of Research at the Institute believes the high lending rate is a result of competitive government borrowing, structural inefficiencies in the banking industry that lead to high operational costs and high lending risks and associated loan defaults.

 

“I’m asking the monetary authority to impose a ceiling of five percentage points on the spread between lending rates and the policy rate so at the next monetary policy committee meeting if they decide that they are maintaining the rate, I want them to task all banks to bring their lending rates to 5 percentage points within that rate”, Dr John K. Kwakye said when speaking during a policy forum organized by the IEA last week.

 

However, Dr Kwakye stressed that such a move should be temporary and be changed to suit the circumstances of the economy.

 

IEA further said, there is the need to restrain government borrowing by entrenching fiscal discipline as well as an improvement of inefficiency in the financial sector through improved management practices.

 

Apparently, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Association of Bankers, John Awuah in his reaction said such a move would not augment well for the country’s economic development.

 

He suggested a continuous approach of policies should be used to lead to the gradual reduction of lending rates, as has been seen over the past five years.

 

“The talk has been that banks’ lending rates are high, and we think that is a bit misplaced because we are not taking the totality of all the factors that generate that lending rate into consideration. As it is when market rates have come done the lending rate follows and if you check the trends in the last five years, you will see clearly that the bank lending rates have reduced from a cost of 28% or 29%, now we are talking about 20%. A lot of banks are lending to customers at below 20%. So it is a matter that I think the banking association has not sold our story properly, and I think the general rhetoric has been lending rates have been at some levels that are unmanageable. We think that if market fundamentals continue moving in the downward direction, lending rate will automatically follow”.

 

 

Adnan Adams Mohammed

 

An Economist at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) is predicting an end of year economic growth rate  of five percent.

 

Professor Peter Quartey, has described the 3.9% GDP growth in the second quarter of 2021 announced by the Ghana Statistical Service, last week, as ‘encouraging’.

 

The 5% projection is slightly above the IMF projection of 4.6% growth in real GDP, the 4.2% projection by the World Bank and also the 4% percent projection published in the 2021 African Economic Outlook by the African Development Bank. But, the ISSER Director believes that the GSS data demonstrate signs of economic recovery amidst the Coronavirus pandemic.

 

“All things being equal, we are likely to hit an average of 5% GDP by the end of the year”,  Professor Peter Quartey said in his comment after the GSS announcement.

 

“The 3.9% growth rate is quite positive and encouraging. Then if you even look at the non-oil growth rate of 5.2%, it clearly tells you that the economy is certainly recovering.

 

“I’m encouraged by the fact that manufacturing is growing at an average rate of 5% because majority of the people are employed within this sector. And therefore, it is quite encouraging that if that sector is growing it is likely to employ more people, so we reduce the unemployment rate, especially the youth who are unemployed – a lot of them being trained by the tertiary institutions, but yet cannot find jobs,” Prof. Quartey explained.

 

He, however, urged government to place key focus on making targeted investments in critical sectors to sustain the growth of the economy.

 

“That is positive and I think they [government] should continue to invest in the real sector in order to realise targeted growth rate for 2021,” he added.

 

Meanwhile, the economic expansion witnessed in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the more than 5 percentage points of contraction experienced in the same for 2020.

 

When seasonally adjusted, Ghana’s real GDP increased by 0.9 percent in the second quarter, that is, April to June. It witnessed 0.1 percentage point higher than what was recorded in quarter one of the year.

 

According to Government Statistician, Prof. Samuel Anim, the Services Sector influenced the growth recorded for the period.

 

Provisional real quarterly
gross domestic product (QGDP) growth rate including Oil and Gas, is 3.9% (year on year) in the second quarter of 2021. In the same period of 2020, the growth was -5.7%.

 

GDP growth rate without oil and gas (Non-Oil GDP) for first quarter 2021 is 5.2% which compares to the same period in 2020 with a growth rate of -5.8%.

 

The Service sector recorded the highest growth of 11.0% and was followed by the Agriculture sector with a growth of 5.5.0%. The Industry sector contracted by 4.3 percent.

 

 

The GDP (Including Oil & Gas) estimate at constant 2013 prices for the 2nd quarter of 2021 was GH¢39,162.2 million compared to GH¢37,710.3 million in the 2nd quarter of 2020.

 

The Non-oil GDP at constant 2013 prices for the 2nd quarter of 2021 was GH¢36,369.9 million compared to GH¢34,580.9 million in the 2nd quarter of 2020.

 

 

The GDP estimate at current prices in purchaser’s value for the 2nd quarter of 2021 was GH¢101,945.7 million compared to GH¢88,470.1 million in the 2nd quarter of 2020.

 

The Non-oil GDP (GDP without Oil and Gas) estimate at current prices for the 2nd quarter of 2021 was GH¢97,489.6 million compared to GH¢85,661.5 million in the 2nd quarter of 2020.

 

 

The Services sector was the largest sector of the Ghanaian economy in the second quarter of 2021 with a share of 50 percent of GDP at basic prices. The GDP share of Industry and Agriculture were 29 percent and 21 percent respectively.

 

 

The Provisional quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted Real Gross Domestic Product (including Oil) growth rate for the 2nd quarter of 2021 was 0.9 percent.

 

 

Within the Agriculture sector, the Crops sub-sector grew by 0.9 percent in the 2nd quarter of 2021, compared to 1.4 percent in the 1st quarter of 2021. The Livestock subsector also grew by 1.2 percent compared to 1.3 percent recorded in the 1st quarter of 2021. The Forestry and Logging subsector grew by 2.9 percent compared to 0.1 percent recorded in the 1st quarter of 2021.

 

The Fishing sub-sector expanded by 3.1 percent compared to a contraction of 0.9 percent recorded in the 1st quarter of 2021   Within the Industry sector, the Construction sub-sector recorded a 0.6 percent growth in the 2nd quarter of 2021, compared to a 3.5 percent expansion recorded in the 1st quarter of 2021.

 

Manufacturing sub-sector grew by 1.8 percent in the 2nd quarter of 2021 compared to a growth of 2.0 percent in the 1st quarter of 2021. Water Supply, Sewerage, Waste Management & Remediation Activities sub-sector grew by 5.1 percent in the 2nd quarter of 2021, compared to a growth of 1.6 percent in the 1st quarter of 2021.

 

The Mining & Quarrying sub-sector continued to contract by 4.8 percent in the 2nd quarter of 2021, from -2.6 percent recorded in the 1st quarter of 2021   In the Services sector, Real Estate grew by 1.7 percent in the 2nd quarter of 2021 compared with 2.4 percent growth in 2021Q1.

 

Information & Communication expanded by 4.3 percent growth rate in the 2nd quarter of 2021, same as recorded in 1st quarter of 2021. The Trade; Repair of Vehicles, Household Goods also grew to 2.2 percent in the 2nd quarter of 2021 compared to a growth of 0.8 percent in the 1st quarter of 2021. Compared to 1st quarter of 2021, the Public Administration & Defense, Social Security grew by 2.7 percent in 2021Q2.

 

 Hotel & Restaurants and Professional, Administrative & Support activities which contracted in the 1st quarter of 2021, expanded by 1.8 percent in the 2nd quarter of 2021.