The country’s total debt stock reached ¢138.8 billion as of November 2017 according to the latest Bank of Ghana economic and financial data report.
Breakdown of the debt numbers
The report released Friday showed that the debt went down marginally from ¢138.9 billion in September as compared to ¢138.8 billion in November.
However, the Central Bank’s data showed that from October to November 2017 the total debt stock rather went up from ¢137.6 to ¢138.8 billion.
External debt stood at ¢74.7 billion cedis; an equivalent of $16.9 million, accounting for 37 percent of the total value of the economy.
Domestic debt component of the total amount stood at ¢64.2 billion; this is about 31.2 percent debt-to-GDP ratio.
Reasons for marginal increase in debt numbers
According to sources close to government, the marginal increase in the debt stock can be attributed to the cedis’ marginal depreciation during that period.
Also, clearing of some debts that were maturing and not necessary as a result of fresh borrowings from government.
Government borrowing plan for first quarter of 2018
Government is planning to raise ¢11.1 billion in the first quarter according to its issuance calendar for the first three months of this year.
According to issuance calendar, the Finance Ministry is planning to raise almost ¢9 billion cedis for roll over maturities, while the remaining ¢2.1 billion which is being described as fresh cash or borrowing to meet government’s financing needs.
A careful look at the calendar shows that government actually borrowed less than what it took in the first quarter of 2017. Government is planning to raise ¢11.1 billion as against the ¢17.4 billion raised in the same period for 2017.
However, some analysts have attributed it to lower budget deficit of ¢10.9 billion compared to ¢12 billion in 2017. Some have argued that this decline has been influenced by the lower deficit for this year, compared to 2017.
Performance of other sectors
The data showed that total earnings from the country’s traditional exports reached $13.7 billion ending December 2017.
This is $2.6 billion more than what the country secured for the same period 2016. Gold brought in $5.7 billion compared to $4.9 billion. Cocoa contributed $2.7 billion, while Crude Oil exports went up from $1.3 billion to $3 billion ending December 2017.
However, the country’s total import bill as at the end of last year stood at $12.6 billion.
Developments in the Banking Sector
Total Non-Performing Loans (NPL)s or loans that banks fear may go bad, is still a major challenge for the commercial banks, as the data showed there has not been any significant reduction over the last three months.
The Bank of Ghana data puts NPLs in percentage terms ending December 2017 at 22.7 percent – slightly down from 22. 9 percent in October.
Despite this challenge, total deposits in the banking sector reached ¢58.3 billion compared to the ¢52.7 billion for the same period in 2016. Total advances as at December 2017 hit ¢37.7 billion compared to ¢35.6 billion in 2016.
However, it was not good when you look at it in terms of annual growth, as this has declined from 18.6 percent in 2016 to 5.9 percent. Total banking Industry assets are at ¢93.2 billion.
Cedi’s Performance
The Bank of Ghana puts the end-of -year cedi depreciation against the dollar at 4.9 percent. However, considering development for January 2018, it has gone down by almost 0.1 percent.
Myjoyonline.com
