The Bank of Ghana (BoG) said as at November 20, the Ghana cedi had depreciated at a slower rate of 9 per cent against the United States dollar, compared with 17.4 per cent during the same period in 2012.

Dr Henry Kofi Wampah, BoG Governor said: “The real effective exchange rate appreciated by 2.8 per cent during the period. Private inward transfers received through the banking system from January to September 2013 declined to $ 12.6 billion from $ 13.4 billion for the same period in 2012. Of the total transfers, $ 1.3 billion accrued to individuals representing a decline of 0.4 per cent over the same period of 2012.”

Presenting the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) Report in Accra on Wednesday, Dr Wampah said gross international reserves amounted to $ 5.6 billion (2.9 months of imports) in November 2013 from a stock position of $ 5.3 billion (3 months of imports) at the end of December 2012.

He said for the first nine months of 2013, the balance of payments improved, as it recorded a lower deficit of $ 1.7 billion, compared with a deficit of nearly $ 2.1 billion during the same period last year.

The Governor explained that this was largely due to increased net inflows to the financial account, in spite of deterioration in the current account deficit. “The current account deficit widened to $ 4.5 billion from the $ 4.1 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2012.

“This was as a result of deterioration in the services, income and transfers account, which was moderated by an improvement in the trade balance. “The capital and financial accounts on the other hand recorded a significant rise in the surplus to $ 3.4 billion from a surplus of $ 1.7 billion in the same period of 2012. This development was mainly driven by net official borrowing of $ 1.3 billion and significant improvement in the deficit on short term capital,” he stated.

Dr Wampah said for the first ten months of the year, the value of merchandise exports remained broadly unchanged at $ 11.4 billion, compared with the same period last year.

He said earnings from gold fell by 12.0 per cent to $ 4.2 billion, while exports of cocoa beans also declined by 33.5 per cent to $ 1.3 billion, partly reflecting a decline in the prices of the commodities.

“Dr Wampah said oil exports, however, increased by 30.9 per cent to $ 3.2 billion, as a result of increased production. Earnings from non-traditional exports, including cocoa products, went up by 25.8 per cent to $ 2.2 billion. The Governor noted: “The value of imports was unchanged at $ 14.7 billion. Oil imports went up by 0.4 per cent to $ 2.9 billion, while non-oil imports declined by 0.2 per cent to $ 11.8 billion within the period.

“Of non-oil imports, the share of capital and intermediate goods declined to 68 per cent from 70 per cent in 2012, while consumption goods increased to 24 per cent from 22 per cent. The trade deficit for the period therefore remained unchanged at $ 3.4 billion.”