Fitch Solutions has said that Ghana’s public debt will continue to rise to cover large deficits in the coming quarters, forecasting total public debt to rise from 79.0% of Gross Domestic Product in 2021 to 83.0% in 2022.

Subsequently, the debt-to-GDP ratio will hit 84.5% in 2023.

“As Ghana has effectively been cut off from international capital markets, the country will have to rely on domestic debt issuance over the short term”, it said in its monthly report.

It added that Ghana’s domestic debt market is relatively shallow and banks are already highly exposed to government debt.

“As such, a rise in domestic debt issuance over the coming quarters could crowd out the private sector, weighing on growth”, it pointed out.

It however concluded that Ghana’s public expenditure will fall to 23.8% of GDP, from 25.2% in 2022, in line with the government’s medium-term fiscal consolidation objectives.

The rate of increase of Ghana’s debt slowdown in the first half of 2022.

It went up marginally by ¢130 million to ¢393.4 billion in June 2022, about 78.3% of GDP, the Summary of Economic and Financial Data by the Bank of Ghana has revealed.