Ghana’s net international reserves ended 2022 at $2.44 billion, about 2.7 months of import cover, the Bank of Ghana has revealed in its January 2023 Summary of Economic and Financial Data.

This is against $6.07 billion recorded in December 2021, about 4.3 months of import cover.

The country’s Balance of Payment at the end of December 2022 also stood at a deficit of $3.63 billion, as against a surplus of $510.1 million in December 2021.

This was as a result of a significant decline in the  Capital and Financial Account Balance which stood at a deficit of $2.17 billion in December 2022, compared with a surplus of $.3.30 billion in December 2021.

The negative Capital and Financial Account Balance was as a result of net portfolio of investments outflow of $2.05 billion in December 2022.

Net international reserves have been declining from $6.07 billion in January 2022, about 4.4 months of import cover, largely due to the selling of investments by foreign investors.

Trade surplus hits $2.75bn

Meanwhile, Ghana recorded a trade surplus of $2.75 billion in 2022, about 3.8% of Gross Domestic Product.

This far exceeded the surplus of $1.09 billion recorded during the same period in 2021.

The significant growth in trade surplus was due to significant proceeds from gold and oil exports, whilst net imports also fell.

Importantly, total exports went up by 18.1% year-on-year to a staggering $17.40 billion in December 2022. Total exports for 2021 was $14.72 billion.

Crude oil exports totalled $5.42bn

Crude oil exports totalled $5.42.61 billion in December 2022, higher than the $3.94 billion recorded in October 2021. This is mainly due to price effects.

Gold exports up 30% to $5.33bn

Gold export earnings also went up by 30% to $5.33 billion, supported by increased production volumes triggered by the positive response from small-scale gold exporters.

Cocoa exports fall to $2.21bn

However, on account of lower prices and low cocoa purchases, cocoa receipts declined to $2.21 billion in December 2022, compared to $2.83 billion in December 2021.