Ghana’s debt situation continues to deteriorate as shown by new figures released by the Bank of Ghana.
Total public debt stock at the end of November 2020 rose to GH¢ 286.9 billion representing a year-on-year increase of 33.69% over the total public debt stock recorded at the end of November, 2019, adding more pressure on the government to slow down the rate of debt accumulation.
The new debt figure pushes Ghana’s debt to GDP ratio to almost 75 % at the end of the eleventh month of 2020 from the 61.4 % recorded at the end of November in 2019.
A breakdown of the debt numbers shows that the component of the debt secured outside the country remained relatively stable from July to November, rising marginally (GH¢ 3 billion) to GH¢ 139.6 billion, and this is about 36.2 % of the total value of the economy which is projected to be about GH¢ 385 billion.
On the other hand, the component of the debt secured locally has rose significantly from July to November (GH¢ 25 billion) to GH¢147.3 billion, representing 38.2 percent of GDP.