February 6, 2019//-Ghana’s total export revenues grew last year as crude oil export increased, according to Bank of Ghana’s Summary of Economic Financial Data for January 2019.
The West African country’s export went up by 7.5 per cent to $14.8 billion in 2018. Crude oil export increased from $3.1 billion in 2017 to $4.6 billion in 2018.
2018 saw a ramp up in local production by the Jubilee partners and the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) clusters, increasing total export revenues.
The fall in oil prices in the last quarter of 2018, which is yet to rise beyond $62, questions whether there would be enough funds from oil revenues to support the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme in 2019, according to Crude Oil Trading Strategies.
The increase in revenues accrued from the commodity in the larger part of 2018 downplayed fears by critics that the programme may be in danger, however the recent price trend of the commodity reignites that worry.
Cocoa on the other hand continued to perform poorly, revenue from the commodity contributed 14 per cent ($2 billion) to the total export revenue, and dipped by 21.4 per cent from $2.6 billion in 2017 to $2 billion in 2018.
Cocoa prices steadily rose from $1,900 a tonne from the beginning of 2018 to trade at all-year-high of $2,850. It shortly dipped to trade at an average of $2,200 for the rest of rest of that year.
The remaining 18 per cent of export revenues were not captured in the Summary of Economic Financial Data. But it is likely to have come from the export of non-traditional commodities.
By Gloria KYEREMEH & Raju PARWANI, economic journalists in Accra
