The current account deficit improved from US$839.14 million in the second quarter of 2019 to US$662.97 million in the corresponding quarter of 2020.
This translates into a year-on-year improvement of 21 percent.
This is according to the second quarter bulletin released by the Bank of Ghana on Monday, October 12, 2020.
The Bank of Ghana attributed the decrease in the current account deficit to a reduction in the payments of investment income, reflecting a reduction in profits and dividend payments, as well as a moderate increase in net unilateral transfers (remittances).
According to the central bank, provisional trade balance for the second quarter of 2020 showed a surplus of US$114.47 million compared to a surplus of US$712.44 million recorded for the same period in 2019.
The Bank of Ghana explained that the reduction in the gains made in the trade balance was as a result of a larger decline in exports relative to imports.
The estimated value of merchandise exports for the second quarter of 2020 was US$3,481.52 million, having declined from US$4,029.94 million in the same period in 2019. This indicates a diminution of US$548.42 million or 13.6 percent.
The decrease in the value of merchandise exports was attributed to a decline in receipts from the exports of crude oil, although other exports (other minerals and non-traditional exports) and some commodities recorded lower export receipts.
Gold Exports
Gold exports in the second quarter of 2020 amounted to US$1,708.79 million compared to US$1,554.98 million recorded during the corresponding quarter in 2019.
The central bank attributed the increase in gold export receipts to price effects. The average realized price increased by 10.9 percent to settle at US$1,708.79 per fine ounce.
Crude Oil Exports
The value of crude oil exported in the review quarter totaled US$631.32 million compared to US$1,235.64 million recorded in the same period in 2019.
The central bank attributed the decrease in value to a fall in price by 50 percent to settle at US$34.07 per barrel, compared to US$68.14 per barrel recorded for the same period a year ago.
Conversely, the Bank of Ghana indicated that, there was an increase in volume by 2.2 percent to 18,528,077 barrels compared to 18,134,495 barrels in the second quarter of 2019.
Cocoa Beans and Products Exports
Earnings from cocoa beans and products exports amounted to US$545.68 million in the second quarter of 2020 compared to US$521.33 million recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2019. This represents an increase of 4.7 percent.
With regards to cocoa beans, the central bank stated that earnings from cocoa beans amounted to US$275.61 million, a decrease of 10 percent over the level recorded in 2019.
Similarly, the price of cocoa beans also decreased by 0.4 percent to settle at US$2,428.62 per tonne, and the volume exported decreased by 9.6 percent to 113,485 tonnes.
On the other hand, earnings from the export of cocoa products, increased by 25.6 percent to US$270.07 million. The central bank attributed the improvement to “a 22 percent jump in volume to 85,991 metric tonnes and a 2.9 percent increase in price to US$3,140.71 per tonne”.
Timber Products
Earnings from the export of timber products in the review quarter amounted to US$29.17 million representing a decline from exports of US$40.08 million in 2019.
Imports
Total value of merchandise imports for the second quarter of 2020 amounted to US$3,366.08 million, up by 1.5 percent compared to US$3,317.49 million recorded in 2019.
The Bank of Ghana attributed the increase to a good performance from non-oil imports.
“The total merchandise non-oil imports for the second quarter of 2020 was estimated at US$2,991.10 million (including electricity imports) compared to an outturn of US$2,718.97 million recorded for the same period in 2019, up by 10 percent. This was the result of decreases in all the major categories except Intermediate goods”.
Additionally, the value of capital goods imported during the quarter amounted to US$618.57 million, down by 26.71 percent from the US$488.18 million recorded for the same quarter in 2019.
The central bank said “this was due to a 34.1 percent and 96.6 percent increase in capital goods (except transport) and industrial transport goods respectively”.
