Public debt stock rises slightly to $49.5bn despite cedi gains

Ghana’s total public debt stock has inched up marginally to $49.5 billion as of March 2025, according to the latest data from the Bank of Ghana.

This is a slight uptick from $49.4 in February 2025. The marginal increase comes despite the local currency’s strong appreciation against the US dollar.

In cedi terms, the debt stood at GH₵769.4 billion, up from GH¢768.1 billion, and represents 55% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The external component of the debt stock also rose from GH¢440.1 billion ($28.3bn) to GH¢442.5 billion ($28.5bn).

Notably, there was a decrease in the domestic component of the debt stock, falling from GH¢328 billion to GH¢326.9 billion, which could be because of the government’s mixed appetite for treasury bill issuances.

The contribution of both the external debt and domestic debt to GDP was 31.6% and 23.4% respectively.

The local currency surged to its strongest performance against its major trading currencies – an impressive turnaround from the sharp depreciation trends seen in recent years and marks an all-time high in percentage terms

It has appreciated by 24.1% against the US dollar, 16.2% against the British Pound and 14.1% against the Euro according to the latest data by the Bank of Ghana.

Per the May 2025 Summary of Economic and Financial Data, the cedi is currently trading at around GH₵11.85 to the dollar – GH₵15.84 to the British Pound and GH₵ 13.34 to the Euro.