The Bank of Ghana has said prices of Ghana's key exports remained volatile on the international commodities market.

BoG Governor, Dr Ernest Addison told journalists at the monetary policy committee meeting that brent crude oil prices fell by 21.8 per cent on year-on-year basis to US$82.7 per barrel in April 2023, compared with US$105.8 per barrel in April 2022, mainly on the back of reduced demand amid fears of a recession.

Cocoa prices, he said, remained "elevated during the first four months of 2023 driven mainly by lower production volumes from top grower Ivory Coast".

At US$2,612.80 per tonne in January 2023, cocoa prices rose by 13.0 per cent on year-on-year basis to US$2,924.37 per tonne in April, he said.

Also, gold prices have remained bullish this year, supported by economic uncertainty, Dr Addison noted.

In April 2023, the average price of gold reached an all-time high of US$2,000.69 per fine ounce, up 3.4 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

The price volatility and varied production volumes of the key commodities impacted export performance during the period, he noted.

He said from January to April, "total export earnings declined by 3.6 per cent year-on-year to US$5.6 billion, on the back of lower crude oil exports and to a lesser extent non-traditional exports, as gold and cocoa exports increased".

He noted that "crude oil exports fell by 36.7 per cent to US$1.2 billion, mainly on account of both lower price and production volume effects as the TEN fields declined from a production of 30,000 barrels per day to 24,000 barrels per day".

However, "gold exports increased by 15.9 per cent to US$2.2 billion driven by higher export volumes, and cocoa beans export also rose by 30.3 per cent to US$950.8 million, largely on the back of increased production volumes".