Ghana recorded a trade surplus of $1.33 billion in the first four months of 2022, higher than the $1.107 billion recorded in the entire 2021.
This is approximately 1.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
According to the Bank of Ghana Summary of Economic and Financial Data, total exports in the 4-months of 2021 were $6.10 billion. This is against total imports of $4.77 billion.
The increase in the trade balance is due to the increase in the price of crude oil on the world market and improve gold production in the country.
The data further revealed that gold dominated the total value of exports, recording $1.87 billion in April 2022, followed by oil which registered $1.85 billion in April 2022.
Cocoa exports, however, declined to $1.11 billion in April 2022, from $1.29 billion in April 2021.
In 2021, gold exports for the first four months were estimated at $1.80 billion.
Oil exports for the first four months of 2021 were however estimated at $1.14 billion.
The impressive outing for crude oil exports so far in 2022 is a result of the higher price of the commodity.
For imports, non-oil imports was estimated at $3.49 billion in April 2022, whilst oil imports accounted for $1.27 billion.
Also, the current account balance as of April 2022 stood at a deficit of $128.2 million, about -0.2% of GDP.
This is lower than the deficit of $197 billion, approximately -0.2% of GDP recorded during the same period of last year.
The overall balance of payment however stood at -$934.5 million in April 2022, as against -$429.9 million in April 2021.
Source:myjoyonline