Posted on September, 10, 2021 at 09:47 am
Rwanda’s export receipts rose by 16.0 percent in the first half of 2021, the National Bank of Rwanda said Thursday in its August Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Statement.
The rise in export receipts amounted to 672.2 million U.S. dollars up from 579.5 million U.S. dollars a year earlier, according to the statement.
Traditional exports such as coffee, tea, minerals rose by 30.2 percent, non-traditional exports by 63.6 percent and re-exports by 54.3 percent, it showed.
“Rwanda’s external sector has mirrored the general economic recovery with export receipts rising by 16.0 percent in the first half of 2021 year-on-year, reflecting a continued recovery of merchandise exports,” John Rwangombwa, the governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, said during a virtual event to release the statement.
According to the statement, in the first half of 2021, Rwanda’s imports increased 6.1 percent year-on-year, amounting to 1,618.1 million U.S. dollars from 1,524.6 million U.S. dollars in the first half of 2020.
The rise in imports was attributed to increased demand for intermediary goods, consumer goods and capital goods, Rwangombwa said.
The central bank showed Rwanda’s economy continues to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The real gross domestic product increased by 3.5 percent in the first quarter of 2021, after three consecutive quarters of recession mainly due to good performance of agriculture and industry sectors, it said.
The recovery is also being supported by sizable monetary and fiscal policy measures as well as easing of COVID-19 containment measures, according to the central bank.
Source: News Ghana