Ghana’s debt hits 172.9 billion cedis

The total amount that Ghana owes reached 172.9 billion cedis in November 2018.

This is according to data from the Bank of Ghana.

The Summary of Economic and Financial data by the central bank shows that between July and November 2018, the country added 13.2 billion cedis to its debt.

The figure went up from 159.7 billion cedis to 172.9 billion cedis within the period.

The current figure of 172.9 billion cedis represents 57.9 percent of the total value of all goods and services produced within the country (GDP) for 2018.



The figure comprises money borrowed within Ghana and that borrowed from investor s outside the country.

As at November 2018, the total amount that the government had borrowed from the domestic market reached 86.5 billion cedis while that borrowed outside the country amounted to 86.3 billion cedis.

The actual reasons accounting for the rise are not clearly known but the Bank of Ghana maintains that the figures still takes into consideration the 9.8 billion cedis bond that the government issued to support GCB and the Consolidated bank as part of the banking sector clean up.

For the first quarter of this year, the government says it intends to borrow to the tune of 11.25 billion cedis.

Of this, 10.14 billion cedis is expected to be used to roll over maturing debts while the remaining 1.1 billion cedis will be channeled into meeting the government’s financing requirements and buffer for the period.

Meanwhile, as at the end of last year, the country’s total exports reached 14.8 billion dollars.

This compares with imports of 13.08 billion dollars for the same period.

As a result, Ghana had a trade surplus of 1.7 billion dollars in 2018.

Also, the banking sector recorded a marginal improvement in its Non Performing Loans which ended 2018 with 18.2% representing a marginal drop from the 19.3% recorded in the preceding month.

 

Source:citibusinessnews.com