Government spokesperson on the economy Manaseh Atta Boahene, has said Ghana’s debt to GDP will not play a role in IMF’s decision to bail the country as the International Monitory Fund (IMF) concludes its 10 day visit on Ghana’s debt sustainability on Friday 7th October, 2022.
Speaking to Kwaku Dawuro on Movement In The Morning Show he said that ”World Bank report on Ghana’s debt sustainability analysis projects the Ghana’s debt to GDP to hit 104% in December 2022. However, what they have said is just a projection which may or may not happen. Economic indicators are not only about debt to GDP, it goes beyond that. Some of these International community’s use debt to GDP to cripple emerging communities African communities”
”You can not use that indicator alone to measure the health of an economy. Today Japans’s debt to GDP stands at 257% but Japan has never been downgraded, this clearly depict the level of discrimination that exist. US Debt to GDP is at 133% and UK stands at 107%. Most country’s debt to GDP goes beyond 100%. What is most important to these investors is not about the debt to GDP but commitment to paying debt. Ghana’s records on debt repayment are very positive. Since 2017 we have allocated specific amount of money to service our debts. In 2022 we allocated 37 billion to service our debt but due to the inflation rate we increased to 41 billion. IMF boss has said Ghana has a strong track record of servicing loan”, he added.
He added that IMF have gone through our record, and can attest to Ghana’s consistence in debt servicing adding World bank’s projection will not affect reaching a deal with IMF.