The Bank of Ghana has provided an update on the current status of three key commodities that Ghana trades in, namely cocoa, crude oil, and gold.
In its May 2023 Monetary Sector Report, the Central Bank noted that in the first four months of 2023, cocoa prices were generally positive.
This was driven by lower production volumes, higher grinding in top-grower Ivory Coast and increased global demand.
Per the report, prices began the year at US$2,539.86 per tonne in December 2022, and rose to US$2,924.37 per tonne in April this year. This represents 15.2 percent year-to-date increase and 13.0 percent on year-on-year terms.
With regard to crude oil, prices have broadly trended downwards since June 2022.
From US$117.2 per barrel in June 2022, prices plunged to US$81.3 per barrel in December 2022, before moving slightly up to US$82.7 per barrel in April 2023.
Prices were pressured by concerns over the health of the global economy and prospects of oil demand, despite the announced production cut by OPEC+, the Central Bank noted.
Meanwhile, the BoG says gold has remained strong so far this year.
Spot gold started the year at US$1,796.2 per fine ounce and surged to an all-time high US$2,000.7 per fine ounce in April 2023, representing a 3.4 percent year-on-year
growth.
This was prompted by economic uncertainty amid fears of recession, expectation of lower rate hikes as inflation eases, and the banking crisis in the U.S. and Europe.
“The weighted average price of the three major commodities exported by Ghana (cocoa, gold and crude oil) increased by 3.9 percent in April 2023.
The increase in the overall index was on the back of increases in all the three commodities, with the cocoa sub-index increasing by 4.9 percent, the crude oil sub-index by 3.9 percent, and the gold sub-index by 3.7 percent,” the report added.
Source: The Independent Ghana