Ghana’s public debt stood at GH¢344.5 billion as of November 2021
World Bank advises government to transparent with economic situation
Ghana’s public debt stock in terms of Gross Domestic Product ratio has reached the 80 percent mark.
The development comes after the Bank of Ghana, in its March 2022 Summary of Economic and Financial Data said the debt stock reached GH¢351.8 billion in December 2021 which is equivalent to about 80.1 percent of GDP.
Prior to this, the World Bank had made a similar projection of the debt stock exceeding the 80 percent mark.
Country Director for the Bank, Pierre Laporte earlier speaking at a public lecture on March 7, 2022 said Ghana’s public debt situation might have changed due to increased government borrowing.
“The data as we know is close to 80% of GDP. Probably, now as we speak, it might have exceeded” he stated.
“The fiscal deficit [9.7% in December 2021], unfortunately, with COVID-19 needs to be urgently brought down. Inflation must also be brought down. This is an interesting discussion, and we must acknowledge the situation on the ground,” Laporte earlier said.
Meanwhile, recent figures by the Bank of Ghana further revealed the country added about GH¢730 million in fresh loans to the total public debt stock in December 2021.
Per the figures, the increase can partially be attributed to the depreciation of the cedi in the last two months of 2021 – a move that has further increased the external debt component.
The Bank of Ghana, touching on the external component of Ghana's total public debt, said the figure increased in December 2021 to US$28.3 billion (GH¢170.0 billion) from US$27.9 billion in November 2021.
This, in terms of the debt-to-GDP ratio, was equivalent to 38.7 percent.
On the domestic debt front, the Bank of Ghana's figures showed a rise to GH¢181.8 billion in December 2021 from an earlier GH¢179.4 billion recorded in November 2021.
This was however equivalent to 41.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product.
The latest figures by the Bank of Ghana could force government to stick to more homegrown solutions by borrowing from the domestic market due to high-interest costs on the external market.
Ghana added GH¢730 million fresh loans to December 2021 debt stock