Ghana’s trade balance narrowed in the first four months of this year to 1.0% of Gross Domestic Product, as imports continued to surge, data from Bank of Ghana has revealed.

However, the country continued to enjoy trade surplus since first achieving that in 2018.

The trade balance that is the difference between exports and imports stood at $759 million in April 2021. Compared to same period last year, the trade balance was $1.0 billion, that is equivalent to 1.3% of GDP

Total exports was estimated at $5.13 billion in the first four months of this year, whilst total imports including oil stood at $4.37 billion.

For exports, the country earned $1.8 billion from gold, $1.2 billion from cocoa and $1.14 billion from oil respectively. Oil had witnessed growth in exports because of the increase in oil prices, which is hovering around $65 on the international market.

Ghana’s Gross International Reserves however hit $10.9 billion in April 2021, from $8.6 billion recorded in December 2020.

Ghana records trade surplus of $2bn in 2020

Despite the impact of coronavirus pandemic on global economies, Ghana recorded a trade surplus of $2.015 billion in 2020, data from the Bank of Ghana has revealed.

This was equivalent to 3.0% of Gross Domestic Product.

According to the Bank of Ghana’s January Summary of Economic and Financial Data, total exports was estimated at $14.45 billion, whilst total imports was $12.43 billion.

But comparing it to 2019, the country earned $15.6 billion from exports, whereas imports was $13.4 billion.