Ghana

Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. Ghana endured a long series of coups before Lt. Jerry RAWLINGS took power in 1981 and banned political parties. After approving a new constitution and restoring multiparty politics in 1992, RAWLINGS won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996, but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000. John KUFUOR succeeded him and was reelected in 2004. John Atta MILLS took over as head of state in early 2009.
==Economical characteristics==
* Currency: Ghanaian cedi (ISO code: GHS)
* Central bank discount rate: 17% (31 December 2008)
* Commercial banks lending rate: NA%
* Stock of money (M1): $NA (31 December 2008)
* Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $NA (31 December 2008)
===Statistics===
Statistic / Year 	1999 	2000 	2001 	2002 	2003 	2004 	2005 	2006 	2007 	2008
GDP (million USD)World Bank. "Ghana: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01. 	7 710	4 977	5 309 	6 160 	7 624 	8 872 	10 720	12 722	14 942	16 653
Govt. debt (% of GDP)World Bank. "Ghana: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01. 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)World Bank. "Ghana: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01. 	 	 	18.106	18.010	19.767	23.712	23.688	21.785	25.827	
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)World Bank. "Ghana: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-10-01.	 	 	18.712	20.029	22.020	23.479	22.746	25.034	29.450	
Debt to revenue (years) 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
==References==
Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.
==External links==
* Ghana on Wikipedia
* Central bank of Ghana
* Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
* BBC country profile
Category:Countries