The rate of accumulation of public debt is declining – Finance Minister

The rate of accumulation of public debt is declining following the good progress in the debt restructuring programme and the fiscal consolidation agenda, the Minister of Finance has said.

The provisional total debt stock of Ghana stood at GH¢742 billion, representing US$50.9 billion as of June 2024

This represents 70.6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as captured in the 2024 mid-year budget review in parliament
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Accra on Tuesday, August 6, the Finance Minister said
“The debt stock will reduce significantly once we fully complete the external debt restructuring programme.”

He further stated that the 2024 Budget has been successfully executed according to set targets so far and the 2024 Mid-Year Budget was successfully presented to Parliament on the 23rd of July 2024 with no supplementary estimates, in spite 2024 being an election year.
Growth, he said, is proving to be more resilient and robust than initially programmed and the economy continues to show strong signs of recovery in Q1 of 2024.

“We have put together a growth strategy with a revamped SME growth and opportunity programme with a funding of GHs8.2bn which is expected to further support the growth process

“Inflation is declining with a strong disinflation process since the beginning of 2023. The rate at which the cost of living is rising has declined significantly since Dec 2022. We have provided Ghs1.5billion to be paid to customers of the defunct Asset Management Companies (FMCs). Exchange rate has largely stabilised since 2023 and the recent pressures on the cedi are being contained.

“We reached agreement on terms of debt restructuring on our official bilateral loans amounting to $5.1bn under the G20 Common Framework on 11th June 2024, providing an expected debt relief of US$2.8bn within the 2023-2026 period.
“We reached agreement with our Eurobond holders on 19th June 2024 to restructure Eurobonds amounting to $13.1bn with an immediate debt stock forgiveness of about US$4.7bn and debt service savings of about US$4.4bn within the 2023-2026 period.”