The Finance Minister, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, says cedi depreciation hiked Ghana’s debts from an initial amount of GH¢608 billion in 2023 to GH¢742.0 billion in the first half of 2024. 

He said the development showed an increase of 22 per cent in Ghana’s debt due to the effect of the Cedi depreciation and disbursements from creditors. 

The Minister said the debt stock consisted of external debt of GH¢452 billion and domestic debt of GH¢290 billion, representing 60.9 per cent and 39 per cent of the total debt stock, respectively. 

He stated that external and domestic debt accounted for 43.0 per cent and 27.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), respectively. 

The Finance Minister said this at the mid-year budget review in parliament, consistent with Section 28 of the Public Financial Management Act, 2016 (Act 921). 

According to the Act, the Minister is required to provide a mid-year fiscal policy review of the government’s budget statement and economic policy. 

Dr Amin said the domestic financing of the debt would amount to GH¢38.9 billion, representing 3.8 per cent of the revised GDP and 71.9 per cent of the total financing for 2024. 

The revision, he noted, was largely on the back of interest payments, which had been revised downward by GHs 7.9 billion to reflect the impact of the external debt restructuring on external interest payments. 

Dr Amin said the government would continue to build on the 2024 Medium Term Debt Strategy (MTDS) implemented in the first half of the year. 

The strategy, he stated, would focus on an appropriate financing mix aimed at supporting fiscal consolidation without compromising macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability.