Debts of COCOBOD, other SOEs to be included in Ghana’s debt data

The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has said that there have been some structural reforms as far as the reporting of Ghana’s debt data is concerned.

According to him, debt from the Special Purpose Vehicles, which previously was not part of the Central Government debt, has now been included.

Furthermore, he noted the long-term debt of selected SOEs such as COCOBOD and contingent liabilities arising from IPPs-PPAs and financial sector recapitalization will also be included in the computation of the country’s debt data.

According to Ofori-Atta, as of end-December 2022, Ghana’s central government debt and guaranteed debt in nominal terms stood provisionally at GH¢435,306.45 million, up from GH¢351,787.00 million at end-December 2021, representing an increase of 23.7 percent.

He further noted that using the revised GDP released by the Ghana Statistical Service in April 2023, the debt-to-GDP ratio as of end-December 2022 stood at 71.3 percent.

“Mr. Speaker, the composition of the total debt stock was made up of a provisional amount of GH¢240,919.57 million, equivalent to 39.5 percent of GDP and GH¢194,386.89 million, equivalent to 31.8 percent of GDP for external and domestic debt, respectively,” he said during the presentation of the 2023 mid-year budget review on Monday July 31.

It is unclear if this new direction was at the insistence of the IMF or not. Ghana is currently working with the International Monetary Fund to help the country with its huge debt burden which has plunged the West African country into economic crises.

SSD/DO

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