Ghana’s reserves to hit US$9.2bn
By
Elorm Desewu
Ghana’s
Gross International Reserves, (GIR), is expected to climb up to some US$9.2
billion, after the US$1.3 billion cocoa syndicated loan hits the central bank’s
accounts.
This
would support the country’s fait currency, the cedi during this year’s festive
eve, as well as the balance of payment.
The
GIR increased by US$1.2 billion to US$8.2 billion equivalent to 4.1 months of
import cover as at end August 2019 from US$7.0 billion equivalent to 3.6 months
of import cover at the end of December 2018.
The
foreign exchange market has remained relatively calm. The Ghana Cedi
cumulatively depreciated by 9.2 percent in the year to September 18, 2019,
compared with 7.0 percent for the corresponding period of 2018.
Against
the British pound and Euro, the Ghana cedi cumulatively depreciated by 6.9
percent and 6.1 percent respectively, compared with 4.2 percent and 4.9 percent
depreciation over the corresponding period. In trade-weighted terms, the real
effective exchange rate continued to be broadly aligned with the underlying
fundamentals.
The
country has recorded a trade surplus of US$2.644 billion representing 3.9
percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared to a surplus of US$1.395
billion which was 2.1 percent of GDP
same period last year.
The
large increase in the trade surplus reflected a contraction of 8.6 percent
year-on-year in the import bill due to benchmark valuation adjustments, while
exports went up by 5.1 percent.
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