Total debt servicing costs of public and publicly-guaranteed external debts by the end of the third quarter of 2020 amounted to $490.26 million.
The total debt servicing cost of $490.26 million at end Q3 2020, according to the Bank of Ghana (BoG), was $57.40 million (10.5%) less than the service payments of $547.65 made in Q2 2020.
The amount however, represents an increase of $20.58 million (4.4%) higher than the payment of $469.68 million for the same period in 2019.
Debt service payments for the period under review were made up of a principal amount of $215.5 million and interest payments of $274.76 million.
In terms of creditor category, multilateral creditors were paid $40.70 million comprising principal repayments of $26.87 million and interest payment of US$13.83 million. This compares with principal repayments of $21.5 million and interest payments of $13.27 million made in same period of 2019.
Bilateral creditors on the other hand, received $37.78 million in principal repayment and $11.02 million in interest payments, compared with $28.12 and $10.15 million paid as principal and interest respectively in 2019.
Also, commercial creditors were paid $187.90 million, made up of principal repayments of $150.85 million and interest payments of US$37.06 million. These compared with principal repayments of $229.59 million and interest payments of $81.67 million made in the same period in 2019.
Coupon payments on outstanding Eurobond debt issuances by government amounted to $212.86 million by Q3 2020 compared to $85.38 million for the same period in 2019.
According to the BoG, coupon payments on outstanding Eurobond debt increased to $211.58 million in Q2 2020 – marginally below the $212.86 million for Q3 2020 – from the $131.26 million payments made in Q2 2019.
