Ghana’s external payments position has strengthened, Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has revealed.

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Kumasi on Tuesday, February 11 he said for the first time in over twenty years, the trade balance (the difference between what we export and what we import) recorded a surplus in 2017, a larger surplus in 2018, and an even larger surplus in 2019.

“It is not because we are importing less, but largely because of increased exports as a result of positive transformation of this economy by the NPP government.

“The positive trade balance has resulted in a significant narrowing of the current account deficit as a percent of GDP.”

He also noted that improvements in current account performance and increased capital inflows have helped to boost international reserves over the last 24 months.

Gross international reserves reached US$7.05 billion at the end of December 2018 (3.6 months of import cover) and increased to $8.4 billion (4.0 months of import cover at the end of December 2019).

Ghana’s net international reserves have also increased from $3.4 billion in 2016 to $4.5 billion in 2017, $3.8 billion in 2018 and $5.1 billion in 2019.