Ghana’s public debt stock is currently seeing a decline, according to the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta.
According to the Finance Minister, the total public debt has declined to 66.4 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as of September 2023, from 73.1 percent of GDP at the end of 2022.
Mr Ofori-Atta, who made this known while presenting the 2024 budget statement noted that this is possible due to the consolidation of government’s public finances, the domestic debt exchange programme, and the ongoing external debt restructuring.
“The completion of external debt restructuring is expected to further improve Ghana’s debt situation,” he added.
Over the weekend, the Ministry of Finance refuted reports that Ghana missed its November 1 deadline for the disbursement of the second tranche of International Monetary Fund (IMF) funds.
“The attention of the Ministry of Finance has been drawn to above- titled misleading publication on Myjoyonline, about Ghana missing a purported deadline of 1st November, 2023, for the disbursement of the second tranche of International Monetary (IMF) Funds,” a rejoinder by the ministry read.
According to the Finance Ministry, there is no 1st November, 2023 timeline for disbursement of the second tranche of the IMF funds as “no deadline has been set by the IMF for the second tranche disbursement,” which is due to take place after the IMF Executive Board approves the first review.
The Ministry made mention of Table 9 on page 72 of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) published on 17th May, 2023 by the IMF referenced by MyJoyOnline.
“The November 1 stated in this table is an indicative timeline for completion of the first review, based on the observance of the end-June 2023 performance criteria,” the statement added.
The first review was successfully completed on 6th October, 2023, culminating in a Staff Level Agreement (SLA) on the same day.
“Whilst the SLA milestone is an important step towards unlocking the second tranche of $600 million under the programme, the timeline set by the Executive Board for the consideration and approval of the first review, is not 1st November, 2023 as published by Myjoyonline. The exact timeline for the Board date is determined by the IMF Executive Board,” the Ministry reiterated.
Following the clarification, the Ministry of Finance has encouraged the general public and media houses in particular, to seek the facts and truth about any information that comes to their attention, by reaching out to the Ministry for clarification whenever they are in doubt.
Meanwhile, the Ministry says Government of Ghana is making good progress in accordance with its strategic plan to engage the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) of the Paris Club; secure a Memorandum of Understanding on debt restructuring; and go before the IMF Executive Board for approval of the first review.