Govt’s aggressive borrowing in the domestic debt market worrying – IEA

 The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has ex­pressed concern about the govern­ment’s aggressive borrowing in the domestic debt market, especially from the short end of the market, where investor appetite is high.

According to its July-August 2024 Economic Outlook, the do­mestic component of the debt has increased by as much as GH¢32.7 billion or 12.7 per cent, from GH¢257.3 billion to GH¢290.0 billion in the year to June 2024, whereas the external component has increased only marginally by US$0.9 billion or 0.3 per cent, from US$30.1 billion to US$31.0 billion.

The IEA report stated that since the government currently lacked access to the international bond market, it was understand­able that it was only borrowing from the domestic market.

 Nonetheless, it advised that borrowing be closely monitored and controlled so that it does not get out of hand and land the coun­try in another major debt crisis.

As of the end of June 2024, Ghana’s public debt stood at GH¢742.0 billion. This rep­resents a year-to-date increase of GH¢133.6 billion or 22.0 per cent.

The debt in dollar terms was US$50.9 billion, lower than US$52.2 billion at the end of December 2023, as a result of the effect of the sharp increase in the cedi/dollar rate on the domestic component.

In Gross Domestic Product terms, the debt was 70.6 per cent at the end of June 2024 compared to 72.3 per cent at the end of December 2023. This is due to the much higher nominal GDP in 2024 compared to 2023.

In the Economic Credit Facility programme, the public debt is projected at 82.5per cent of GDP for 2024 [IMF Executive Board’s Second Review of Ghana’s ECF, June 28, 2024].

 The report further said the projected figure was surprisingly high since the envisaged debt

 restructuring and fiscal consolida­tion under the ECF are supposed to place the debt on a declining path, reaching what is regarded as a sustainable level of about 56 per cent by 2028.

BY TIMES REPORTER

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