Gold, Cocoa push Ghana’s exports to US$15.6 billion in 2019 – BoG

The 2019 Financial Stability Review report released by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has revealed that Ghana’s exports increased by 4.6 percent to $15.6 billion in 2019.

This improvement in exports, according to the report, was driven largely by a 14.6 percent and 8.6 percent growth in gold and cocoa exports respectively.

“The general increase in commodity prices and volumes of export significantly impacted the trade balance. On the whole, Ghana’s exports increased by 4.6 percent to US$15.6 billion in 2019.

This improvement in exports was driven largely by a 14.6 percent and 8.6 percent growth in gold and cocoa exports respectively. On the other hand, imports generally recorded a slower pace of growth in 2019, mainly as a result of a 9.2 percent contraction in oil and gas imports.

These developments occasioned a trade surplus of US$2.3 billion (3.4 percent of GDP) in 2019, compared with US$1.8 billion (2.8 percent of GDP) in 2018,” the report stated.

It added that the trade surplus and improvements in current transfers reduced the current account deficits by 2.5 percent of GDP in 2019.

A current account deficit of US$1.7 billion was recorded in 2019 as compared to US$2.0 billion in 2018.

The overall balance of payments account recorded a surplus of US$1.3 billion in 2019, compared with a deficit of US$671.5 million in 2018. These developments translated into further improvements in the Gross International Reserves to US$8.4 billion, providing 4 months of import cover of goods and services in 2019.

The general increase in commodity prices and volumes of export significantly impacted the trade balance. On the whole, Ghana’s exports increased by 4.6 percent to US$15.6 billion in 2019. This improvement in exports was driven largely by a 14.6 percent and 8.6 percent growth in gold and cocoa exports respectively.

On the other hand, imports generally recorded a slower pace of growth in 2019, mainly as a result of a 9.2 percent contraction in oil and gas imports. These developments occasioned a trade surplus of US$2.3 billion (3.4 percent of GDP) in 2019, compared with US$1.8 billion (2.8 percent of GDP) in 2018.

The trade surplus and improvements in current transfers reduced the current account deficits by 2.5 percent of GDP in 2019. A current account deficit of US$1.7 billion was recorded in 2019 as compared to US$2.0 billion in 2018.

The overall balance of payments account recorded a surplus of US$1.3 billion in 2019, compared with a deficit of US$671.5 million in 2018.

These developments translated into further improvements in the Gross International Reserves to US$8.4 billion, providing 4 months of import cover of goods and services in 2019.