Ghana suffers low gold, cocoa earnings as trade deficit holds in 2013

Ghana recorded low earnings from the export of cocoa and gold during the first ten months of 2013, according to the central bank.

In a statement issued last week after its 58th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) said earnings from gold fell by 12% to $4.2 billion, while exports of cocoa beans also declined by 33.5% to $1.3 billion.

The central bank noted that the decline in prices of the two commodities on the world market partly contributed to the low earnings. Ghana is world’s second largest cocoa producer and Africa’s number two gold producer.

Oil exports, however, increased by 30.9% to $3.2 billion, as a result of increased production, the statement read, as well as earnings from non-traditional exports, including cocoa products, went up by 25.8% to $2.2 billion.

The value of merchandise exports during the ten-month period according to BoG remained broadly unchanged at $11.4 billion compared to the same period in 2012.

On the other hand, the country imported $14.7 billion value of goods during the period.
“Oil imports went up by 0.4% to $2.9 billion, while non-oil imports declined by 0.2% to $11.8 billion within the period,” said the central bank.

The trade deficit for the period therefore remained unchanged at $3.4 billion.

By Ekow Quandzie