Ghana's gross reserves increased by 37% at the end of 2023 - BoG

Ghana's Gross International Reserves (GIR) excluding Encumbered Assets and Petroleum Fund, increased to $3.66 billion in December 2023, from $2.67 billion in December 2022.

This marks a 37.08% increase between December 2022 and December 2023.

In November 2023, the Gross International Reserves were $2.28 billion, about 1.1% of import cover.

The Bank of Ghana’s January 2024 Summary of Economic and Financial Data shows that the country’s reserves have been growing steadily, but slightly since August 2023.

They were $2.08 billion in August 2023 (1.0 of import cover), but rose to $2.26 billion in September 2023 (about 1.0 of import cover).

The country's trade surplus also fell to $2.63 billion, about 3.4% of Gross Domestic Product, in 2023.

This is lower than the $2.87 billion (3.9% of GDP) in 2022.

The data from the Bank of Ghana also shows that total exports in December 2023 were $16.64 billion, while total imports were $14.01 billion.

Total imports decreased by 4.35%, due to both non-oil imports and oil and gas imports.

Merchandise exports also decreased by 5.11%, affected by crude oil exports and cocoa products.

Gold remained the main export commodity, with $7.60 billion exports value in December 2023, higher than the $6.60 billion in the same month last year.

Crude oil exports came second, with $3.83 billion in December 2023, compared to $5.42 billion in December 2022.

Other exports, including non-traditional exports, declined slightly to an estimated value of $3.09 billion, from $3.15 billion a year ago.

ID/AE

Watch a recap of business stories below:



Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.

Click here to follow the GhanaWeb Business WhatsApp channel