Ghana’s public debt exceeds sustainability threshold

Ghana’s debts reached an all-time high in September this year on the back of increased borrowing to make up for shortfalls in revenues and fund rising expenditures.

Data from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) showed that the public debt stock stood at GH¢273.8 billion in September this year, the highest since the bank started releasing data on how much the country owes.

The September this year stock was equivalent to 71 percent of total economic output, measured by gross domestic product (GDP), according to the data released by the central bank ahead of a press conference Monday.

The debt stock was GH¢201.9 billion (59.8% of GDP) in September last year but rose by 35.6 percent to GH¢273.8 billion this September.

It also showed that GH¢71.9 billion was added to the debt stock within the 12-month period.

The data further showed that the share of the debt into external and domestic debt were almost at par, with the foreign component slightly above those procured locally.

The foreign component was GH¢138.5 billion, equivalent to 35.9 percent of GDP while the domestic share was GH¢135.3 billion, representing 35.1 percent of GDP.

Although a norm for countries, the weight of Ghana’s debt relative to its revenues has been worrisome, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group consistently ranking the country as a high-risk debt distress country since 2015.