Debt stock rises to GH¢236.1bn

 

 

Adnan Adams Mohammed

 

Ghana’s total debt stock now stand at GHC236.1 billion as at end of March 2020 (first quarter of 2020) from GHC219.2 billion, according to data from the Bank of Ghana.

This means that about GHC16.9 billion of debt has been contracted by the government from January to March of 2020.

According to the report, the domestic component of the debt now stands at GHC111.3 billion, while the foreign debt has inched up to GHC124.8 billion.

The 2020 debt strategy focuses on an appropriate financing mix to mitigate the costs and risks to achieve the desired composition of the public debt portfolio with respect to borrowing from external and domestic sources.

 The financing strategy for 2020 proposes issuances of Government securities on the domestic market and create cash buffers on top of the programmed net domestic financing for active liability management and cash management purposes.

The strategy is to issue / re-open medium to long-term instruments (2-year, 3-year, 5-year, 7-year, 10-year, 15-year and 20 Year bonds) and refinance some of the maturing Treasury bills and Bonds. The strategy also plans to issue marketable and non-marketable debt against possible contingent liabilities arising from the financial and energy sectors in 2020.

On the external front, the strategy proposes the issuances on the International Capital Market provided market conditions are favourable and additional external borrowing for priority development projects, which cannot be financed on concessional terms.