Debt burden, financial obligation or loan payment, heavy load of money failure, mortgage or borrowing money problem concept, tried businessman carrying big debt money bag losing money banknotes.
Ghana’s domestic debt increased modestly from GH¢309.8 billion to GH¢333.8 billion in December 2025, despite a reduction in the domestic debt-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio.
The rise reflects government’s plan to borrow to build buffers to meet its financial obligations.
According to the March 2026 Monetary Policy Report by the Bank of Ghana, the increase in domestic debt came largely from the short-term instruments.
Also, the external debt increased in foreign currency terms to reflect new loan disbursement.
However, in local currency terms, it decreased from GH¢416.8 billion in December 2024 to GH¢307.2 billion in December 2025.
The decline was mainly driven by strong performance of the Cedi and principal repayments of both Eurobonds and multilateral debt, resulting in a reduction in the external debt stock denominated in local currency by GH¢125.2 billion (9% of estimated GDP).
Meanwhile, the provisional debt stock of central government and guaranteed debt stood at GH¢640.99 billion (45.3% of GDP) at end-December 2025 from GH¢726.7 billion (61.8% of GDP) at end-December 2024.
Out of the total public debt, external debt was GH¢307.2 billion (21.7% of GDP) and domestic debt totalled GH¢333.8 billion (23.6% of GDP).
According to the Bank of Ghana, the sharp decline is reflected in both external and domestic debt-to-GDP ratios.
It added decline in the public debt was largely due to appreciation of the local currency, increased amortisation, and prudent borrowing practices, reduced borrowing cost and fiscal discipline resulting in the higher primary surplus.
Source: Joy Business
