Ghana ended 2023 with GH₵610bn public debt; a 27% increase

Ghana’s public debt increased to GH₵610 billion as at December 2023.

Comparatively, this is a 26. 85 percent rise from the GH₵446.3 billion recorded in December 2022.

The new debt figure represents 72.5 % of Gross Domestic Product.

According to the Bank of Ghana’s Summary of Economic and Financial Data for March 2024, the country’s public year-to-date debt level increased by GH₵ 163.7 billion despite the successful completion of the domestic debt exchange.

In dollar terms, the total debt stock stood at US$52.4 billion largely due to the free fall of the local currency.

External debt accounted for GH₵350.3 billion (US$30.1 billion), while domestic debt accounted for GH₵259.7 billion representing 30.9 percent of GDP.

While the external debt went up by GH₵ 109.4 billion that of domestic debt also increased marginally by GH₵ 54.3 billion.

Nominal GDP increased from GH₵614.3 billion to GH₵841.6 billion.