Foreign trade : foreign exchange and balance of payments : the case of Ghana

Abstract

Ghana is virtually a one-export economy (cocoa) and -the largest producer of that export (40%). After it comes Nigeria (20%) and South America (including Brazil) (12%). Ghana has a regime of exchange control. Its currency is not negotiable outside the country and where attempts are made to do so it fetches less than the official rate. This is automatically a result of the non-negotiability of the currency. But, additionally, it could also result from an adverse balance of payments which has also been the case in recent years.