Ghana’s trade balance recorded a provisional surplus of US$1.81 billion in the first half of the year, higher than the surplus of US$1.60 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2023, the Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Report – July 2024, says.

The improved trade surplus, the central bank explained, resulted from a higher increase in exports relative to imports.

Total exports increased by US$1.09 billion (13.4%) to US$9.23 billion, mainly on the back of strong growth in gold and crude oil exports.

The value of gold exports increased by 46.4 per cent to US$5.04 billion, driven by both volume and price increases.

The volume of gold exports increased by 28.9 per cent to 2.4 million ounces, driven largely by higher output from small-scale mining, while realised prices of gold increased by 13.6 per cent to US$2,094.5 per fine ounce.

The report noted that earnings from crude oil exports reached US$1.98 billion, from US$1.66 billion in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, receipts from cocoa exports, both beans and products, declined by 47.4 per cent, from US$1.454 billion in the first half of 2023 to US$760 million in the first half of 2024.

“The sharp drop in the value of cocoa exports reflected the challenges in the cocoa sector, including extreme weather conditions, diseases and smuggling," explained the report.

It said the value of “other exports” (including non-traditional exports) went down by 8.7 per cent to US$1.5 billion.

The total imports bill rose by 13.5 per cent to US$7.42 billion in the first half of the year, driven by both oil and nonoil imports.

Oil imports increased by 6.1 per cent to US$2.30 billion, with non-oil imports increasing by 17.2 per cent to US$5.12 billion.