ACCRA, Ghana (PANA) - Ghana registered a positive trade balance of 70 million euros in trading relations with the European Union from 1994 to 1998.
Exports rose from 778 million euros to 1.2 billion euros in the past five years, while imports from the EU, increased from 658 million euros to 1.14 billion euros over the same period. Statistics for 1999 are not yet available.
But, according to the annual report of the European Commission, Ghana continues to be one of the main trading partners in the EU among ACP countries.
The report said the past five years actually saw a limited negative commercial balance for Ghana in 1996 and in 1997 while a positive balance was registered in 1994, 1995 and 1998.
Major exports to the EU are still based on primary commodities like cocoa, gold, aluminium and wood, while Ghanaian imports from the EU consisted mainly of industrial equipment and manufactured goods.
The report, however, said commitment and payment rate patterns for the sixth and seventh Export Development Funds or EDF show an imbalance between commitment and disbursement.
For instance, the sixth EDF National Indicative Programme or NIP shows that the EU provided 80.3 percent of commitments but only 42.1 percent was disbursed in 1993.
In 1994 commitments dropped to 79.9 percent but disbursements went up to 51.0 percent while from 1995 to 1998 commitments rose from 85.9 percent to 96.6 percent and 99.6 percent to 99.8 percent, respectively.
Similarly, the disbursement pattern rose from 57.1 percent in 1995 to 61.1 percent in 1996 and 69.8 percent in 1997, to 79.7 percent the following year.
In 1999, 99.7 percent of commitments were provided but actual disbursement was lower at 87.4 percent, according to the report.
The seventh EDF NIP saw a far different story in 1993, as commitments were 18.5 percent but actual disbursements ended at 10.6 percent.
