The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has revealed that Ghana’s public debt as at the end of November 2018 stood at GH¢172.9 billion, representing 57.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared to GH¢140.0 billion, representing 54.5 percent of GDP during the same period in 2017.
Governor of BoG, Dr. Ernest Addison, made this known to the media at a press conference on Monday in Accra after the 86th regular meeting of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
The Governor explained that of the total debt stock, GH¢9.8 billion or 3.2 percent of GDP represented bonds issued to protect depositors’ funds during the recent clean-up of the banking industry.
He disclosed that the external debt component was GH¢86.3 billion with a share of 49.9 percent in total debt.
According to the Governor, the Cedi cumulatively depreciated by 8.4 percent in 2018 compared with 4.9 percent in 2017.
However, he said the Cedi depreciated moderately against the Pound and Euro by 3.3 percent and 3.9 percent compared to 12.9 percent and 16.2 percent in 2017 respectively.
He indicated that growth in monetary aggregates generally slowed in the year, consistent with the disinflation process.
Annual growth in broad money supply (M2+) remained broadly unchanged at 16.5 percent at the end of December 2018 compared to 16.7 percent in the same period of 2017.
The Governor pointed out that private sector growth on the other hand continues to recover following the sharp dip to 2.4 percent in March 2018.
“Annual growth in private sector credit for 2018 was 10.6 percent compared to 13.4 percent growth a year earlier,” he disclosed.
According to him, in real terms, private sector credit expanded by 1.1 percent in 2018, adding that the latest credit conditions survey showed a tightening stance on loans to enterprises during the last two months of 2018.
By Melvin Tarlue