Dr Ernest Addison, BoG Governor
Total public debt declined from 69.8 percent of GDP (GH¢142.5 billion) at the end of 2017 to 60.0 percent of GDP (GH¢145.0 billion) at the end of February 2018, reflecting a higher GDP base.
Of the total, domestic debt was GH¢68.2 billion (47.0 percent of total debt) and external debt was GH¢76.8 billion (53.0 percent of total debt).
The favourable external developments from last year continued into the first quarter of 2018.
Dr Ernest Addison, Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), who disclosed this at a press conference yesterday in Accra, said prices of Ghana’s major exports have firmed up across board.
“Crude oil prices have increased by 11.5 percent since the beginning of the fourth year to an average of US$71.7 per barrel in April 2018 due to oil supply constraints amid geopolitical and trade tensions.”
Touching on fiscal operations, he said the provisional March 2018 data indicated that budget execution was in line with the programme, but early indications from April banking data underscored the need for ramping up revenue mobilization to match the corresponding expenditure flows.
Revenue and grants
Provisional data for the first quarter of 2018 showed that revenue and grants amounted to GH¢9.4 billion (3.9 percent of GDP), representing 86.6 percent of target.
Total expenditures amounted to GH¢12.9 billion (5.2 percent of GDP) and 94.3 percent of the target for the period.
These developments resulted in an overall cash deficit of 1.3 percent of GDP in line with the target for the first quarter of 2018 and same for the corresponding period of 2017.
Commodities
Similarly, he said gold prices gained 5.4 percent to US$1,334.9 per fine ounce, supported by rising inflation expectations, pickup in jewellery demand and general trade tensions.
“Cocoa prices are also rebounding due to improved grinding data and cut back in cocoa production. Cocoa prices firmed up by 39.8 percent to US$2,664.0 per tonne in April 2018.
“These developments translated into positive trade and current account balances.”
Provisional external trade balance for the first four months of 2018 was a surplus of US$1.1 billion (2.2 percent of GDP), reflecting higher export receipts, mainly from crude oil.
This compares with a surplus of US$1.2 billion (2.5 percent of GDP) recorded over the same period in 2017.
Current account
The current account also recorded a surplus of 0.5 percent of GDP in the first quarter of 2018.
“However, the capital and financial account recorded a net outflow which more than offset the current account surplus, resulting in an overall balance of payments deficit of 1.2 percent of GDP compared to a deficit of 0.9 percent of GDP in the same period last year.”
By Samuel Boadi