According to data from the Bank of Ghana, Ghana's public debt surged by GH¢46.4 billion in the first two months of 2024, reaching GH¢658.6 billion ($53.1 billion).

This puts the country’s debt at 62.7% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Bank of Ghana’s May 2024 Summary of Economic and Financial Data revealed that Ghana’s debt was GH¢611.2 billion at the end of 2023.

It rose to GH¢626.0 billion in January 2024, before climbing to GH¢658.6 billion in February 2024.

This significant increase was primarily due to the cedi’s depreciation and heightened domestic borrowing by the government.

Breaking down the figures, the domestic debt increased by GH¢18.5 billion, while the external debt saw a rise of GH¢28.9 billion, mainly attributed to the weakening of the cedi.

By February 2024, the external debt component was $30.6 billion (GH¢350.3 billion), making up 36.1% of GDP.

Meanwhile, domestic debt was GH¢278.7 billion, also 36.1% of GDP.

The government’s fiscal operations remained on target, with a deficit-to-GDP ratio of 2.6% in the first quarter of 2024, compared to 1.8% during the same period last year. However, the primary balance recorded a deficit of 1.4% of GDP in March 2024.

Ghana suspended interest payments on its external loans in December 2022 due to economic challenges.

The country recently received a Memorandum of Understanding from its bilateral creditors for restructuring part of its external debt and is currently in negotiations with bondholders after reaching an agreement with bilateral creditors in January 2024.