Mining companies in Ghana repatriate $470m in 2009

Gold mining companies in Ghana have repatriated a total of $469.64 million from the country in the first six months of 2009.

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Paul Acquah told reporters at a press conference in Accra Tuesday July 21, 2009 after the Monetary Policy Committee of the central bank met to review the economy.

He added that gold export for the period was $1,213.85 billion as against $1,199.16 billion in 2008 for the same period.

That amounted to an annual growth of 1.2 percent, reflecting mainly volume growth as average price declined by 0.8 percent during the period. For the period January to June 2009, total repatriation from the gold mining companies amounted to $469.64 million, compared to $370.85 million for the same period last year, he said.

Diamond export was estimated at 157,132 carats ($3.09 million) compared with 408,425 carats ($29.50 million) for the same period in 2008.

Meanwhile, provisional estimates indicate that total merchandise exports for the first half amounted to $3,003.85 billion (an increase of 5.6 percent) compared with $2,845.81 billion for the same period 2008 (an increase of 32.8 percent).

Exports of cocoa beans and products for the first half of the year amounted to US$1,060.97 billion (an annual growth of 16.6 percent) compared with US$909.96 million for the same period in 2008 (annual growth of 22.6 percent). Cumulative cocoa purchases for the 2008/2009 main crop season as at June 04, 2009 amounted to 634,256 tonnes (against a forecast of 600,000 tonnes for the entire crop season). This compares with 663,800 tonnes for the same period in the 2007/2008 season.

And non-traditional exports for the first half of the year amounted to $610.65 million, compared with $587.47 million for the same period in 2008, representing a growth of 5.6 percent, he said.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi