Accra, May 22, GNA - Total private inward transfers received by NGOs, embassies, service providers and individuals for the first quarter of 2007 hit 1.52 billion dollars representing 17.1 per cent increase over the figure recorded for the same quarter of 2006.

A statement read by Dr Paul Acquah, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, said total transfers were 346.56 million dollars, representing 22.8 per cent accruing to individuals, compared with 32.8 per cent for the same period in 2006, when total transfers for the year amounted to 5.80 billion dollars.

Gross international reserves pegged at 2.07 billion dollars being 2.5 months of goods and services imports cover.

"In April 2007, there was a decline of 8.8 per cent from the end of 2006 level, but an increase of 8.4 percent in year-on-year terms," he added.

On the foreign exchange market, total purchases and sales of foreign exchange by the banks and forex bureaux fixed at 1.90 billion dollars for the first quarter of 2007 (or an increase of 15.9 per cent), compared with the fourth quarter of 2006.

He said in April 2007 alone, total purchases and sales increased by 20.2 percent to 646.17 million dollars, compared with 537.14 million dollars recorded in April 2006, raising the total purchases to 2.55 billion dollars, a 16.9 percent in year-on-year terms.

The Cedi depreciated cumulatively against the three core currencies - the US dollar, the pound sterling and the Euro for the period January to April 2007. It depreciated 0.5, 3.7 and 4.0 per cent respectively. On the Budget, provisional banking sector data on the implementation of the 2007 budget indicates that total receipts for the first four months of 2007 amounted to A214,402.7 billion (GH=A21.44 billion), compared with A28,505.7 billion (GH=A2850.6 million) for the same period in 2006.

This represents some 23.5 per cent of the annual budgeted target for 2007 and shows a growth of 69.3 percent over the outturn for the same period in 2006.