The slower paced cedi depreciation observed in recent times has been largely due to the policy measures taken to reduce volatility in the foreign exchange market amidst easing supply constraints on the back of inflows from the cocoa pre-finance facility and the Eurobond issue. In addition, the on-going negotiations with the IMF have to a large extent calmed market sentiments.
In the external sector, provisional estimates point to improvements in the trade deficit to $ million in the first nine months of 2014, compared to a deficit of $ billion in the same period in 2013. The improvement was due to a sharp decline in total imports (by $ billion), which more than offset the reduction in total export receipts (by $ million).