Ghana’s public debt stock still GH¢575 billion, 93.5% of GDP

This is according to the Bank of Ghana’s Summary of Economic and Financial Data for March 2023.

The figure represents 93.5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, showing that GH¢108.3 billion was added to the country’s debt stock between September and November 2021.

The data also noted that the external component of the total public debt increased to $29.2 billion (GH¢382.7 billion) in November 2022 which is equivalent to 62.1 percent of GDP.

This was from $28.4 billion (GH¢271.7 billion) in September 2022 and $28.3 billion in December 2021.

The data also showed that the Ghana Cedi depreciated by about 37 percent against the US dollar in 2022 – resulting in a significant rise in the cedi component of the external debt.

Meanwhile, on the domestic debt front, the figure was pegged at GH¢194.6 billion at the end of December 2022 representing about 31.6 percent of GDP.

This figure is also against GH¢195.7 billion which was recorded in September 2022 and GH¢193.1 billion in November 2022.

Meanwhile, since the successful completion of the domestic debt exchange programme, the government is focusing on seeking some debt relief from its bilateral creditors.

However, Ofori-Atta in a tweet on March 24, 2023, stated that the government is hopeful of securing external assurances soon.

He wrote: “So far had very positive and encouraging meetings in China! Looking forward to securing external assurances very soon, even as we pass our outstanding domestic revenue bills back home. Great progress on all fronts…#ResolvingTogether #GhanaFirst.”

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta left Accra for China on Sunday (March 19), pro-government.

Ofori-Atta’s trip to Beijing is hinged on efforts to secure a deal for restructuring Ghana’s bilateral debts with the Asian economic powerhouse.