Ghana’s gross reserves have increased to 9.2 billion US Dollars in March 2019, from the 6.3 billion US Dollars recorded in February 2019, the highest by the country since February 2018.
The net reserves also rose to 6.3 billion US Dollars in March from 3.2 billion in February, 2019.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG) stated in a release on its website that the gross reserves are sufficient to cover 4 months of imports, up from the 3 months.
The central bank’s latest Summary of Economic and Financial Data also showed that Ghana’s debt stock increased by 21.5 per cent as of the end of 2018, adding 30.6 billion Ghana Cedis to the 142.6 billion Ghana Cedis debt of 2017.
The country’s external debt at the end of 2018 stood at 86.3 billion Ghana Cedis, representing 28.9 per cent of GDP while the domestic component of the total debt stock was 86.9 billion Ghana Cedis, representing 29.1 per cent of GDP.
As far as the external sector is concerned, total imports as of February 2019 hit 2.1 billion US Dollars, while total exports in the same period hit 2.6 billion US Dollars.
Gold exports earned the country 944.4 million US Dollars, while Cocoa exports got Ghana 565.9 million US Dollars.
Within the period, Ghana imported 380.8 million US Dollars worth of oil, while non-oil imports hit 1.8 billion US Dollars.
Also, the central bank’s data showed that Non-Performing Loans in the banking sector dropped from 21.6 per cent as of February 2018 to 18.2 per cent as of February 2019.
Meanwhile a couple of weeks ago, Ghana’s Minority in parliament said within a period of two years, the Akuffo-Addo government had added 80 billion Ghana Cedis to Ghana’s debt stock, noting that the fall of the Ghana Cedi alone added 15.3 billion Ghana Cedis to the bill.
According to the Minority in parliament, the fall in the Ghana Cedi essentially meant Ghana’s external debt stock, as of November 2018, shot up to Ghana Cedis 101.3 billion at the current exchange rate.
Source:Fiilafmonline/CLASS
