Adnan Adams Mohammed
Ghana’s current account recorded a provisional surplus of US$3.8 billion in 2024, compared with a surplus of US$1.4 billion in 2023, Bank of Ghana economic data has indicated.
This performance was driven mainly by higher gold and crude oil exports, as well as strong remittance inflows.
The central bank explained that, this, together with a lower net outflow of US$588 million in the capital and financial account, relative to a net outflow of US$733 million in 2023, contributed to an improved balance of payments position for the year.
“The lower outflow in the capital and financial account reflects Ghana’s successful debt restructuring and the IMF ECF programme”, Governor Dr Ernest Addison told journalists last week at the latest Monetary Policy Committee press briefing. “These favourable developments resulted in an improved balance of payments surplus of US$3.1 billion, compared to a surplus of US$518 million recorded in 2023.”
Also, the central bank noted that external sector conditions remain positive, with sustained and stronger-than-programmed rebuilding of reserve buffers contributing to the stability of the domestic currency. The performance of the external sector was mainly driven by strong growth in gold exports, which also largely impacted positively on growth.
In the outlook, the external sector is expected to remain strong as commodity prices remain favourable amid improvements in production. Overall, while the external sector conditions are expected to provide an anchor to exchange rate stability, key risks in the outlook including challenges in the energy sector will have to be closely monitored.
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