The country at end of 2024 recorded $8.98 billion in Gross International Reserves (GIR), covering four months of import cover.
This nearly double the figure recorded in 2023 which stood at $5.92 billion, covering 2.7 months of import cover.
The Governor and Chairman of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr Ernest Addison, speaking at the 122nd press conference of the MPC after its regular meeting noted that GIR reserves build-up was faster than programmed in 2024.
“GIR increased to a stock position of US$8.98 billion at the end of 2024 and was enough to cover 4.0 months of imports, exceeding targets under the IMF programme,” the Governor explained.
The 2024 GIR, he said, compared favourably with the end-December 2023 GIR of US$5.92 billion.
At the yesterday’s press conference, the MPC’s for the third consecutive time maintained its policy rate at 27 per cent, citing positive macroeconomic stability strong growth.
Dr Addison said economic activity was stronger with higher-than-projected growth in the first three quarters of 2024.
“The latest data from the Ghana Statistical Service showed that real Gross Domestic Product expanded at an annual rate of 6.3 per cent during the first three quarters of 2024, relative to 2.6 per cent during the corresponding period in 2023. Non-oil Gross Domestic Product grew by 6.2 per cent from 3.3 per cent over the same comparative period,” he stated.
He indicated that the strong growth outturn was mainly driven by gold production in the industry sector.
Dr Addison said the Bank’s Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) in the last quarter of last year suggested that growth would remain strong, driven in large parts by international trade activities, increased credit to the private sector by banks, construction activities, and tourist-related spending.
He further noted that the latest confidence surveys conducted in December 2024 showed an improvement in both consumer and business confidence.
“Consumer confidence improved largely on account of optimism about future economic conditions. Business confidence also picked up as firms met their short-term targets and expressed positive sentiments about company and industry prospects in line with improving macroeconomic conditions,” the Governor stated.
The Chairman of MPC also outlined that the country’s external sector conditions remained positive, with sustained and stronger-than-programmed rebuilding of reserve buffers, contributing to the stability of the domestic currency.
Additionally, he said 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,” the Chairman of MPC stated.
However, he said while the external sector conditions were expected to provide an anchor to exchange rate stability, key risks in the outlook including challenges in the energy sector would have to be closely monitored.
“The external sector position improved significantly in 2024 on account of increased trade surplus and lower capital outflows,” he said.
BY KINGSLEY ASARE
