Ghana’s public debt reaches GH¢610bn

In its latest Summary of Economic and Financial Data released on March 22, 2024, the country’s public debt stock rose by GH¢42.7 billion between September 2023 and December 2023 after declining by GH¢14.2 billion between June 2023 and September 2023 to GH¢567.3 billion ($51.0 billion).

Per the figures, Ghana’s total public debt in terms of Gross Domestic Product is equivalent to 72.5 percent.

The development points that the country’s debt position has barely improved even after the completion of the government’s Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP).

For instance, domestic debt rose by GH¢19.1 billion while external debt also went up by GH¢23.6 billion. This was on the back of the cedi’s depreciation against major trading currencies.

The BoG data further showed that the external debt component of the total public debt was pegged at $30.1 billion (GH¢350.3 billion) in December 2023, representing some 41.6 percent of GDP.

Meanwhile, the domestic debt component, according to the figures was pegged at GH¢259.7 billion in December 2023, representing 30.1 percent of GDP.

The Bank of Ghana’s latest summary for the period however did not provide data for the financial sector resolution debt and other liabilities including the energy sector debt which is a critical component of the economy.