Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, revealed in his presentation of the 2023 budget to Parliament that the total gross public debt as at September 2022 stood at GH¢467.37 billion which is equivalent to 75.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the highest debt-to-GDP ratio since 2018.

The current total debt stock represents a 26.87% increase year-on-year from September 2021, which recorded the total debt stock of GH¢341.8 billion.

According to the minister, the sharp growth of the external debt is as a result of the depreciation of the cedi. He revealed that the depreciation of the local currency added GH¢93.85 billion to the total debt stock. This represents 20.08% of the total gross public debt.

Excerpts from the budget indicate that external debt formed the biggest component of the total debt stock. External debt stood at GH¢271.71 billion representing 58.1% of the total debt stock and 44.13% of GDP.

Domestic debt stood at GH¢195.66 billion which is 41.9% of the total debt stock and 31.77% of GDP.