Accra, Nov 4, GNA- Ghana's Gross International Reserves (GIR) has improved to 1,012 million dollars by the end of September 2003, the highest in decades, Finance Minister Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo announced on Tuesday.
This represents about 3.4 months of imports of goods and services, compared to the projected position of 2.3 months of reserve cushion for 2003.
Reviewing the performance of the economy in Parliament on Tuesday, Mr Osafo-Maafo said the build up of international reserves has been driven by a combination of improved terms of trade, savings from HIPC, and firm implementation of the fiscal-monetary framework. He said exports of major commodities, comprising cocoa, gold and other minerals recorded levels beyond their projections for the half-year.
Total earnings from cocoa between January and August stood at 578.5 million dollars, showing an increase of 74.1 per cent over the same period in 2002. Gold exports also fetched 591.3 million dollars, between January and September registering an increase of 18.4 per cent over 2002 levels.
Mr Osafo-Maafo said the country imported 304 million dollars worth of oil in the first half of the year, showing an increase of 14.0 per cent in volume and 22.0 per cent in value over the same period last year.
The Minister said total purchases and sales of foreign exchange on the inter-bank and forex markets as at the end of September this year amounted to 1,017 million dollars, showing is an increase of 45 per cent over the same period last year.