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The latest assessment of Ghana’s external sector developments shows that the country earned $2.8 billion from its major exports in the first two months of 2024.
On a year-on-year basis, however, the value of exports did not see any significant growth from the same $2.8 billion posted as of February the previous year.
The figure, compared to the US$ 2.5 billion the country spent on importing goods for the same period, resulted in a trade surplus of about US$400 million.
Per the data from the Bank of Ghana’s Summary of Macroeconomic and Financial Data for March 2024, the positive trade balance accounted for 0.5 of GDP, which is a decline from the 1.1% of GDP recorded in February 2023.
Gold maintained its spot as the most dominant contributor to exports. It contributed $1.3 billion in exports.
It was a marginal increase from the $1 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Following closely were crude oil exports, which totalled $620 million in February 2024, compared to $551 million in February 2023.
However, cocoa came in third with $508 million, significantly down from $711 million recorded in the same period last year, accounting for some $203 million in decline.
On the import side, oil imports fell from $674 million to $599 million. Non-oil imports also decreased from $1.9 billion to $1.3 billion.
The growth in gross international reserves sustained the country’s import cover for 2.8 months.
The net international reserves of the country stand at $3.5 billion, a marginal increase from the $2.6 billion recorded in February 2023.
