Provisional trade balance for the period January to May 2018 recorded a surplus of $1,354.89 million, which was 6.59 percent higher than the surplus of $1,271.09 million recorded during the same period in 2017.

Presenting the mid-year budget review to Parliament, Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta, said improvement in the trade balance was as a result of higher export earnings, driven by oil and non-traditional exports which outweighed the value of imports.

Exports

He said the value of merchandise exports for the first five months of 2018 was provisionally estimated at $6,910.36 million, representing an increase of 10.5 percent, compared to US$6,253.46 million recorded in the same period in 2017.

High receipts from oil exports accounted for the improvement in export earnings.

Gold

Also, Mr Ofori Atta said gold exports during the review period amounted to US$2,316.66 million, compared to US$2,668.01 million during the same period in 2017.

“The fall in receipts was as a result of a decline in the volume of exports, which was moderated by favourable developments in gold price. The volume of gold exported declined by 20.01 percent to 1,733,243 fine ounces. The average realised price increased by 8.56 percent to settle at US$1,336.60 per fine ounce.”

Crude oil

On this, he said the value of crude oil exported in the review period was $1,908.22 million, compared to $1,033.35 million recorded in the same period 2017, adding that the increase in the value of the oil export was due to both price and volume effects.

“The average realised price of oil continued to increase and settled at $70.38 per barrel, compared to $53.02 per barrel recorded for the same period in the previous year, partly due to geopolitical tensions.

“Volume exported also increased by 39.13 percent to 27,114,807 barrels despite a planned Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) maintenance shut down in February and May, compared to 19,489,201 barrels in the same reporting period of 2017.”

Cocoa earnings

Earnings from cocoa beans and products exports totaled $1,402.72 million compared to $1,612.76 million for the same period in year 2017, representing a 13.02 percent decline.

Imports

Commenting further, he said the total value of merchandise imports for the period January to May 2018 amounted to $5,555.48 million, up by 8.88 percent compared to $4,982.37 million recorded in 2017.

“The increase in imports was as a result of an increase in both oil and non-oil imports. The total non-oil merchandised imports (including electricity) for the period January to May 2018 is provisionally estimated at $4,423.99 million, compared to an outturn of $4,063.23 million recorded in the same period in year 2017, representing an increase of 8.88 percent.”

International reserves

On the stock of net international reserves (NIR), he said at the end of May 2018, this was estimated at $4,649.71 million, indicating a build-up of $127.23 million, from a stock position of $4,522.48 million at the end of December 2017.

“The country’s NIR increased by $280.29 million to $7,835.13 million from a stock position of $7,554.84 million at the end of December 2017.

“This was sufficient to provide for 4.2 months of import cover compared to 4.6 and 4.3 months of import cover as at May 2017 and December 2017 respectively.”