Ghana’s trade surplus in the first four months of 2022 was $1.33 billion, up from $1.107 billion in the entire year of 2021.
This amounts to about 1.9 per cent of the country’s GDP (GDP).
Total exports in the first four months of 2021 were $6.10 billion, according to the Bank of Ghana’s Summary of Economic and Financial Data. This compares to $4.77 billion in total imports.
The improvement in the trade balance is attributable to a rise in the price of crude oil on the global market, as well as increased gold production in the country.
Gold contributed $1.87 billion in overall export value in April 2022, according to the data, followed by oil at $1.85 billion.
Exports of cocoa, on the other hand, fell to $1.11 billion in April 2022 from $1.29 billion in April 2021.
Gold exports were anticipated to be $1.80 billion in the first four months of 2021.
Oil exports were anticipated to be $1.14 billion in the first four months of 2021.
The higher price of crude oil has resulted in a strong performance for crude oil exports so far in 2022.
In April 2022, non-oil imports were predicted to be $3.49 billion, with oil imports accounting for $1.27 billion.
In addition, as of April 2022, the current account deficit was $128.2 million, or -0.2 per cent of GDP.
This is less than the $197 billion shortfalls, or -0.2 per cent of GDP, that occurred during the same period last year.
In April 2022, the overall balance of payment was -$934.5 million, compared to -$429.9 million in April 2021.