The debt management operations for 2023 were conducted against the background of an IMF-supported Post-COVID-19 Programme for Economic Growth (PC-PEG) anchored on restoring macro-economic stability and debt sustainability; coordinating an equitable debt operation programme; negotiating a strong IMF programme, among others.
Among the highlights of 2023 is the Government’s success in securing an approved IMF-supported Programme and the execution of a debt restructuring programme to alleviate fiscal pressures by reducing debt servicing costs, improving debt sustainability indicators over the medium to long-term and ensuring macroeconomic stability and economic growth.
Over the period December 2022 to December 2023, the economy demonstrated continued resilience evidenced by a steady but modest recovery. Growth in 2023 has been more resilient than earlier expected, inflation has declined in line with the fundamentals, the fiscal and external balances have improved, and the exchange rate has largely stabilized.
Public debt accumulation has slowed down significantly, as government continued to consolidate its public finances, the domestic debt exchange programme, and the ongoing external debt restructuring.
Public Debt -to-GDP ratio declined from 72.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the end of December 2022 to 72.3 percent of GDP as of December 2023, reflecting the completion of domestic debt exchange. The completion of external debt restructuring is expected to further improve Ghana’s debt situation.
The results of the 2023 updated Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) show that both Ghana’s external and public debt were in ‘debt distress’ but the ongoing fiscal adjustments and the debt operation will positively impact the debt trajectory in the medium-term.
Consequently, Government will continue its effort to implement its debt operations programme anchored on a return to a sustainable debt path.
Accordingly, the 2024–2027 Medium Term Debt Management Strategy (MTDS) has been prepared in fulfilment of Section 59 of the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act, 2016 (Act 921) with the overall objective of proposing a suitable financing mix for 2024 and the medium-term to mitigate the costs and risks in Government’s public debt portfolio.