Ghana's Gross International Reserves (GIR) excluding Encumbered Assets and Petroleum Fund, increased to $3.66 billion in December 2023, from $2.67 billion in December 2022.

This marks a 37.08% increase between December 2022 and December 2023.

In November 2023, the Gross International Reserves were $2.28 billion, about 1.1% of import cover.

The Bank of Ghana’s January 2024 Summary of Economic and Financial Data shows that the country’s reserves have been growing steadily, but slightly since August 2023.

They were $2.08 billion in August 2023 (1.0 of import cover), but rose to $2.26 billion in September 2023 (about 1.0 of import cover).

The country's trade surplus also fell to $2.63 billion, about 3.4% of Gross Domestic Product, in 2023.

This is lower than the $2.87 billion (3.9% of GDP) in 2022.

The data from the Bank of Ghana also shows that total exports in December 2023 were $16.64 billion, while total imports were $14.01 billion.

Total imports decreased by 4.35%, due to both non-oil imports and oil and gas imports.

Merchandise exports also decreased by 5.11%, affected by crude oil exports and cocoa products.

Gold remained the main export commodity, with $7.60 billion exports value in December 2023, higher than the $6.60 billion in the same month last year.

Crude oil exports came second, with $3.83 billion in December 2023, compared to $5.42 billion in December 2022.

Other exports, including non-traditional exports, declined slightly to an estimated value of $3.09 billion, from $3.15 billion a year ago.

ID/AE

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