How much is Ghana’s total debt as of 2022 and what are the countries and institutions that Ghana owes this debt to? In this article, we take you through a list of countries and institutions that Ghana owes by 2022.
To be sincere, Ghana is in a debt crisis which many will refer to as financial distress despite the fact that about a decade and a half ago, the country has seen some debt cancellations which led to a drop in public debt and increased investments.
Currently, the country loses more than 30% of its total GDP to debt servicing and repayments. This percentage is worrying. The cause of increasing debts does not only depend on excessive borrowing but also on the inability to use monies borrowed to generate more revenue.
Read: List of The 10 Most Indebted African Countries To China, IMF And World Bank
When this happens, the loans are not able to repay and service themselves since they have not been put into any structural investments. With this, monies from other sources are used which is bad for the country.
Ghana’s public debt fell from $6.6 billion in 2003 to $2.3 billion in 2006 due to debt cancellation policies put in place by international creditors. This is at the back of the HIPC initiative.
As of September 2021, Ghana’s public debt was GHC344.1 billion. By December of the same year, the debt rose to GHC351.8 billion, a significant amount of GHC7 billion borrowed in a month.
Loan sources for Ghana include both domestic and foreign help. countries like the United States of America, China, and Japan are just a few while the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are some institutions the country owes.
Local banks in Ghana including the Ghana Commercial Bank Ltd. now GCB Bank Ltd and Data Bank are also domestic sources of loans to the country.
As of the end of the 3rd quarter of 2022, Ghana’s total public debt stands at GHC351.8 billion based on the 2021 figures. The Ministry of Finance is yet to release data on new loans.
