This indicates an increase from the 14.9 billion dollars recorded for exports and 12.8 billion dollars for imports in November 2022.

On a year-on-year basis, the value of total exports was however a decrease from the $17.4 billion recorded in the same period last year.

Per the data from the Central Bank, the difference between the country’s exports and imports within the period under review resulted in a positive trade balance of $2.6bn.

The positive trade balance accounted for 3.4% of GDP, an improvement on the 2.7% of GDP recorded in the month of November 2023.

Commodities such as gold and cocoa contributed $7.6bn and $2.1bn respectively to the total export value.

Oil exports accounted for $3.8bn of total exports value with other exports accounting for the remaining $3bn.

On the imports side, oil and non-oil imports accounted for $3.6bn and $7.7bn of total import value.

Growth in exports contributed to an increase in the country’s the gross international reserves which stood at $5.1bn at end-October 2023 from $4.9bn at end-September 2023.

Growth in gross international reserves led to a marginal increase in the country’s import cover from 2.3 months in September to 2.4 months in October.

Net International Reserves of the country however stands at $2.1bn, also a marginal increase from the $2bn recorded in September 2023.