• About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
Saturday, July 12, 2025
  • Login
The Vaultz News
  • Top Stories
  • News
    • General News
    • Education
    • Health
    • Opinions
  • Economics
    • Economy
    • Finance
      • Banking
      • Insurance
      • Pension
    • Securities/Markets
  • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Vaultz Business
    • Extractives/Energy
    • Real Estate
  • World
    • Africa
    • America
    • Europe
    • UK
    • USA
    • Asia
    • Around the Globe
  • Innovation
    • Technology
    • Wheels
  • Entertainment
  • 20MOBPL2DNew
  • Jobs & Scholarships
    • Job Vacancies
    • Scholarships
No Result
View All Result
The Vaultz News
  • Top Stories
  • News
    • General News
    • Education
    • Health
    • Opinions
  • Economics
    • Economy
    • Finance
      • Banking
      • Insurance
      • Pension
    • Securities/Markets
  • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Vaultz Business
    • Extractives/Energy
    • Real Estate
  • World
    • Africa
    • America
    • Europe
    • UK
    • USA
    • Asia
    • Around the Globe
  • Innovation
    • Technology
    • Wheels
  • Entertainment
  • 20MOBPL2DNew
  • Jobs & Scholarships
    • Job Vacancies
    • Scholarships
No Result
View All Result
The Vaultz News
No Result
View All Result

Ghana’s Public debt rises by GH¢3.5 billion in 3 months

September 25, 2021
Stephen M.Cby Stephen M.C
in Economy, Sub Top Stories1
0
Ghana’s Public debt rises by GH¢3.5 billion in 3 months

Ghana’s stock of public debt has continued to rise, even though at a slower pace, gradually pushing it further above sustainable levels. According to data from the Bank of Ghana, the country’s nominal debt stock rose by GH¢3.5 billion between May and July this year.

Consequently, this pushed the Debt-to-GDP ratio to 76.4% as of End-July 2021, up from 75.7% in May, according to BoG’s latest Summary of Economic and Financial Data released on Friday, September 24, 2021.  

Despite the country’s Gross Public debt rising to GH¢ 335.9 billion as of End-July 2021, it shows that government’s commitment to ensure fiscal consolidation is yielding some results, at least to some extent.  

RelatedPosts

BoG Stress Test Uncovers Banks’ Credit Vulnerability Amid Strong Liquidity Defences

Mahama Commits to  Fix Port Bottlenecks to Drive 24-Hour Economy

Ghana Sinks to 29th in Africa’s Debt Management Rankings – World Bank Blasts Policy Failures

More especially, when previously, the debt rose by GH¢27.8 billion within two months, thus between April and May this year. At that time, it became more scary at such pace fearing the country’s debt could have hit almost 100% of total output, even months before the year comes to an end.  

Ghana Finance Minister Ken Ofori Atta 2
Finance Minister – Ken Ofori-Atta

Year-on-year growth

Yet, concerns raised by major international and multinational institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF still remain critical at this stage. More so, when the debt is still very much above the 70% sustainability threshold. This highlights the need to exercise some fiscal restraint to curtail any debt service challenges on the country. 

In the corresponding period of 2020, debt stock was GH¢263.4 billion, representing 68.7% of GDP at the end of July. This implies that the country’s obligations rose by GH¢72.5 billion over the past one year.  This means that the debt stock rose by 27.5 percent year-on-year in July 2021.

Debt components

In terms of the major divisions of public debt, the data from the Central Bank show that domestic investors still continue to hold the majority of the country’s debt. The domestic debt component currently stands at GH¢173.4 billion, representing 39.5 percent of the country’s GDP.  A caveat here is that, the banking sector continue to hold the majority of this debt, something the IMF earlier warned against. This is worrying because of its tendency to crowd out private sector investment as banks’ appetite to hold government securities rise.  

The Fund also warned against monetary financing of the country’s debt. As of May 2021, domestic debt was GH¢171.7 billion and the banking sector which comprises the Central Bank and all other Commercial Banks, held GH¢86.5 billion, representing 50.4 percent of the entire debt.  

Private sector credit

Private Sector Credit however, declined from GH¢43.3 billion in May 2021 to GH¢ 42.7 billion in June 2021, a 1.4 percentage points decline. At the end of the first half of 2021, private sector credit growth slowed to 6.8 percent , reflecting a 7.4 percentage point decrease compared to 14.2 percent in June 2020.

1x 1 1
Dr. Ernest Addison – Governor of the Bank of Ghana

Should this continue, Agriculture,  one of the key sectors in economic transformation, will continue to receive limited credit which has already declined by 35.41% year-on-year in April 2021. It is of major concern since BoG earlier revealed that credit flow to the private sector is concentrated within four key sub-sectors.

With regards to the other debt component, external debt currently stands at GH¢162.5 billion, representing 37.0 percent of GDP. At End-July last year, external debt was GH¢138.4 billion, accounting for 36.1 percent of GDP. This also implies that investors outside Ghana still have confidence in Ghana’s debt serving potentials. As such, reaffirming the IMF’s earlier statement that Ghana has the ability to pay off all its debts.   But this does not also mean that the country should continue to borrow without looking at the implications on the economy.

Revenues and Grants

On the other side of the coin, revenues and grants also saw some improvements over the review period.  Total revenue and grants rose from 5.1% of GDP in May 2021 to 7.8 percent as of End-July this year, a miniature improvement over the 7.3 percent of GDP recorded in July last year.

Compared to debt, revenue mobilization remains very low despite recent efforts by the government to improve it. Tax revenue as a percentage of GDP still lies very much below 15%, lower than that of most African countries.  Whilst efforts to improve revenue mobilization through digitization continues, more fiscal discipline from government is critical.

Just as the IMF earlier emphasized, ongoing energy sector review, diversification in tourism, and the digital transition, which has the potential to reduce corruption, boost tax revenues, and improve service delivery should be the hallmark at this juncture.

READ ALSO: We still stand by the target – Dr. Nsiah Asare

Tags: Bank of GhanaDebt-to-GDP ratioDigitizationFiscal consolidationpublic debt stockrevenue
Please login to join discussion
Previous Post

We shouldn’t see D7 as a barrier for students accessing tertiary education- Education Minister

Next Post

Steps must be taken to resolve housing deficit- Freda Sarpong

Sign up for The Vaultz analytic wire

Get weekly news analysis from top editors at The Vaultz and stay informed on trending economic and business issues from across the globe.

Related Posts

IMANI Flags Transparency Gaps in $360 Million World Bank Loan, Loan, Public
General News

IMANI Flags Transparency Gaps in $360 Million World Bank Loan

July 12, 2025
Ewurabena Aubynn
General News

NDC’s Ewurabena Aubynn Secures Historic Victory in Ablekuma North Rerun

July 11, 2025
Minority Decries Violence, Police Inaction in Ablekuma North Rerun, Polling, Violence
General News

Minority Decries Violence, Police Inaction in Ablekuma North Rerun

July 11, 2025
BoG’s Ban on 10 Money Transfer Organisations Sparks Transparency Debate
Banking

BoG Stress Test Uncovers Banks’ Credit Vulnerability Amid Strong Liquidity Defences

July 11, 2025
AU Urges Human Dignity In Corruption Fight
Africa

AU Urges Human Dignity In Corruption Fight

July 11, 2025
Deadly Rush Confirms Fears About Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
Asia

Nearly 800 Killed While Trying To Receive Food Aid In Gaza

July 11, 2025
IMANI Flags Transparency Gaps in $360 Million World Bank Loan, Loan, Public
General News

IMANI Flags Transparency Gaps in $360 Million World Bank Loan

by Silas Kafui AssemJuly 12, 2025
Ewurabena Aubynn
General News

NDC’s Ewurabena Aubynn Secures Historic Victory in Ablekuma North Rerun

by Evans Junior OwuJuly 11, 2025
Minority Decries Violence, Police Inaction in Ablekuma North Rerun, Polling, Violence
General News

Minority Decries Violence, Police Inaction in Ablekuma North Rerun

by Silas Kafui AssemJuly 11, 2025
BoG’s Ban on 10 Money Transfer Organisations Sparks Transparency Debate
Banking

BoG Stress Test Uncovers Banks’ Credit Vulnerability Amid Strong Liquidity Defences

by Stephen M.CJuly 11, 2025
AU Urges Human Dignity In Corruption Fight
Africa

AU Urges Human Dignity In Corruption Fight

by Lawrence AnkutseJuly 11, 2025
Deadly Rush Confirms Fears About Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
Asia

Nearly 800 Killed While Trying To Receive Food Aid In Gaza

by Comfort AmpomaaJuly 11, 2025
IMANI Flags Transparency Gaps in $360 Million World Bank Loan, Loan, Public
Ewurabena Aubynn
Minority Decries Violence, Police Inaction in Ablekuma North Rerun, Polling, Violence
BoG’s Ban on 10 Money Transfer Organisations Sparks Transparency Debate
AU Urges Human Dignity In Corruption Fight
Deadly Rush Confirms Fears About Gaza Humanitarian Foundation
[/vc_row_inner]

Recent News

  • IMANI Flags Transparency Gaps in $360 Million World Bank Loan
  • NDC’s Ewurabena Aubynn Secures Historic Victory in Ablekuma North Rerun
  • Minority Decries Violence, Police Inaction in Ablekuma North Rerun
  • BoG Stress Test Uncovers Banks’ Credit Vulnerability Amid Strong Liquidity Defences
  • AU Urges Human Dignity In Corruption Fight
The Vaultz News

Copyright © 2021 The Vaultz News. All rights reserved.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Follow Us

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Top Stories
  • News
    • General News
    • Education
    • Health
    • Opinions
  • Economics
    • Economy
    • Finance
      • Banking
      • Insurance
      • Pension
    • Securities/Markets
  • Business
    • Agribusiness
    • Vaultz Business
    • Extractives/Energy
    • Real Estate
  • World
    • Africa
    • America
    • Europe
    • UK
    • USA
    • Asia
    • Around the Globe
  • Innovation
    • Technology
    • Wheels
  • Entertainment
  • 20MOBPL2D
  • Jobs & Scholarships
    • Job Vacancies
    • Scholarships

Copyright © 2021 The Vaultz News. All rights reserved.