Ghana’s public debt stock fell by ¢141.1 billion in December 2022 to end the year at ¢434.6 billion, approximately 71.2% of Gross Domestic Product, data from the Bank of Ghana has revealed.

This is equivalent to $52 billion.

According to the May 2023 Summary of Economic and Financial Data, Ghana’s debt in cedi term rose consistently to ¢575.7 billion ($43.9 billion) at the end of November 2022, about 93.5% of GDP.

This is coming after the country successfully completed its debt exchange, paving the way for the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund to approve a $3 billion Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme.

A careful analysis of the country’s debt indicates that the fall in the total public debt in December 2022 was primarily due to the suspension of payment of some external debt [principal and interest] and some gains by the local currency – the cedi against the dollar during the period.

Again, the country suspended payment of loans to its external creditors in December 2022, as the country struggled to rebalance the economy.

The data from the Central Bank also disclosed that the external component of the total public debt stood at $28.9 billion (¢240.2 billion) in December 2022, lower than the $29.2 billion (¢382.7 billion) in November 2022, equivalent to 39.4% of GDP.

In terms of the domestic debt, it stood at ¢194.4 billion at the end of December 2022, about 31.9% of GDP.

The report again failed to provide data for the financial sector resolution debt and other liabilities such as the energy sector debt.

Nominal GDP surge ¢262.9bn in March 2023

Meanwhile, Ghana’s nominal GDP rose by ¢262.9 billion to ¢873.1 billion in March 2023.

The significant rise in Ghana’s nominal GDP can be largely attributed to the elevated prices of goods and services produced within the country. These price increases, in turn, were a result of persistently high inflation rates, which stood at a staggering 45% in March 2023.

fiscal deficit to GDP stood at 0.8% in March 2023

The government’s fiscal deficit to GDP stood at 0.8% in March 2023, as against 8.3% of GDP in December 2022.

The primary balance stood at 0.1% of GDP in March 2023.