In the first six months of 2023, Ghana's trade balance improved "significantly" to a surplus of US$1.8 billion, compared with US$1.5 billion a year earlier, mainly on account of a 13.4 per cent decline in imports which outweighed a 7.9 per cent drop in export earnings, the central bank has reported.

The decline in total export earnings was due to lower earnings from crude oil, Governor Ernest Addison told journalists in Accra on Monday, 24 July 2023 after the last monetary policy committee meeting.

He said "higher gold and cocoa exports earnings moderated the losses".

"Crude oil exports dropped by 41.3 per cent to US$1.7 billion, driven by lower production volumes from the Jubilee and TEN fields and decline in world prices", he said.

Gold exports, on the other hand, increased by 14.2 per cent to US$3.5 billion.

The trade surplus, together with lower outflows in the investment income from lower external debt service payments due to the debt standstill, resulted in a current account surplus of US$849.2 million, compared with a US$1.1 billion deficit recorded a year earlier.

Similarly, the capital and financial account recorded reduced net outflow of US$897.3 million, on the back of lower outflows in the financial accounts.

Read the MPC's full statement below: