According to the latest Bank of Ghana (BoG) Summary of Economic and Financial Data, Ghana’s public debt stock increased by GH₵3 billion to GH₵304.6 billion in March 2021.
This equates to 70.2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is lower than the 76.1% recorded in December 2020.
The decrease in the debt-to-GDP ratio is most likely attributable to the economy’s expansion.
This increase in debt can be attributed to the country’s GH₵3 billion Eurobond issued in March of this year.
Between December 2020 and March 2021, the country’s debt increased by GH₵13 billion. At the end of last year, the debt totaled GH₵291.6 billion.
Domestic debt increased to GH₵163.6 billion in the first quarter of 2021, up from GH₵149.8 billion in December 2020. This corresponds to 37.3% of GDP.
In March 2021, the external debt was GH₵141 billion ($24.4 billion), down from GH₵141.8 billion ($24.6 billion) in March 2020. This amounts to around 37.7% of GDP.
Importantly, the debt of the banking sector fell by GH₵100 million to GH₵15.2 billion. It’s the same as 3.5% of GDP. If taxes collected to satisfy financial sector debt are utilized to settle portion of it, the debt could be reduced.
