Ghana’s total public debt as at July this year, is estimated at 110 billion cedis.
The figure increased from 108.6 billion cedis recorded in June to 109.8 billion cedis in July this year.
This was contained in the latest summary on economic and financial data released by the Bank of Ghana.
The report also reveals that although the country’s total debt has increased from 100.2 billion cedis to 109.8 billion cedis between 2015 and July 2016, the total debt to GDP ratio has declined from the 71.6 percent at the end of December 2015 to 65.9 percent at the end of July this year.
The report, which comes ahead of the 72nd Monetary Policy Committee meeting of the Bank of Ghana today, said Ghana’s debt stock increased from 101.1 billion cedis to 109.8 billion cedis between January and July this year.
The figure also represents a debt to GDP growth from 60.6 percent to 65.9 percent between the seven month period.
Although the external component of the debts decreased from 60.7 billion cedis to 60.6 billion cedis between the seven month period, the domestic component of the country’s debt increased from 40.4 to 49.2 billion cedis from January to June.
In terms of prices Ghana received for its major trading commodities between January and August this year, the price of cocoa decreased from 3,051dollars to 2,843.8 per tonne; gold prices increased from 1,096.3 to 1,339.3 dollars an ounce.
Similarly, the prices of crude oil increased from 32.4 to 47.2 dollars per barrel.
Meanwhile in the banking sector, the high incidences of Non-Performing Loans increased from 14.6 percent to 19.1 percent by the end of July this year.
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana