Economics Paper 2, WASSCE (SC), 2019

Question 2

 

The extract from a country’s balance of payments account is shown below.
           


ITEM

IMPORT ($ million)

EXPORT ($ million)

Agricultural products
Mineral products
Consumer goods
Capital goods
Insurance
Banking
Transportation
Loans

-----
-----
250
400
50
75
85
150

200
300
-----
-----
25
30
25
60

            Using the table above, calculate the:
(a)        balance of trade;
(b)        invisible trade balance;
(c)        balance on current account.

 

  Observation

This is the alternative data response question to question (1) and was quite popular with the candidates. The question required candidates to calculate the balance of trade, invisible trade balance and balance on current account in the (a),(b) and (c) parts of the question respectively. Most candidates who attempted this question include the value of loans in their computation which is a distracter in the question. Candidates’ marks were a little above average in this question.

The candidates were expected to provide the following answers to obtain the maximum marks.