Public Debt Climbs to GHS 769.4bn in First Quarter of 2025
Ghana’s public debt stock rose by GHS 42.7 billion ($3.3 billion) in the first quarter of 2025, reaching GHS 769.4 billion by the end of March from the GHS 726.7 billion recorded in December 2024, according to fresh data from the Bank of Ghana.
The increase, driven in part by currency depreciation and modest domestic borrowing, puts total debt at approximately 55 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
The data, published in the central bank’s May 2025 Summary of Financial and Economic Data, showed external debt at US$28.5 billion—up slightly from US$28.3 billion in December 2024—representing 31.6 percent of GDP.
The Ghanaian cedi weakened modestly over the quarter, contributing to the nominal uptick in the dollar-denominated portion of the debt stock.
Domestically, debt levels stood at GHS 326.9 billion in March 2025, up from GHS 309.5 billion in December, now accounting for 23.4 percent of GDP.
Despite the rise in total liabilities, Ghana’s debt-to-GDP ratio declined on the back of a nominal expansion in output. The central bank estimates the size of the economy at GHS 1.4 trillion at the end of March, an increase that partially offsets the effect of growing indebtedness.
Fiscal data indicate a cautious approach to government spending. The budget deficit narrowed to 1 percent of GDP in March 2025, while the primary balance—the government’s fiscal position excluding interest payments—registered a surplus of 0.3 percent of GDP, suggesting progress in fiscal consolidation efforts.
