Ghana’s gross international reserves increased by $US1.101 billion in December 2024 to hit US$8.982 billion.

This is equivalent to 4.0 months of import cover.

According to data from the Bank of Ghana's Summary of Economic and Financial Data, the country’s reserves stood at $6.31 billion in January 2024 but dropped to $5.99 billion in March 2024.

It later shot up to $6.59 billion in February 2024 and continued on the same path into the year.

The report stated that the external sector position of the country improved remarkably in the year, supported by a higher current account surplus and a reduction in net financial outflows.

This led to a strong external reserve build-up.

Trade surplus hits $US4.98bn

Meanwhile, the country’s trade balance recorded a provisional surplus of US$4.980 billion in December 2024, higher than the surplus of US$2.694 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.

The surplus was primarily driven by an increase in gold exports.

Total exports went up by 21.06% to US$20.22 billion in December 2024.

Notably, gold exports rose by 53.15% to US$11.64 billion in December 2024

On the other hand, oil and cocoa exports fell. Crude oil dropped by 0.7% to US$3.86 billion in December 2024 whilst cocoa exports also plummeted to US$1.696 billion in December 2024 from US$2.152 billion in December 2023, mainly due to challenges posed by extreme weather conditions and galamsey activities.

The total import bill increased to US$15.24.14 billion in December 2024 from US$14.008 billion in December 2023.