The country is now officially classified as Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC), data from the Bank of Ghana indicate. New Bank of Ghana data shows that the country’s debt is now about 71 percent of the total value of the economy. According to World Bank parameters, if a country’s debt-to-GDP ratio crosses the 70% debt mark, the country is classified HIPC. Ghana’s public debt went up from about 89 billion Ghana cedis in May to about 95 billion as at June this year. Sources close to the Bank of Ghana are attributing the sharp increase in the public debt to the depreciation of the cedi and not necessarily due to increased government borrowing. HIPC status means it would be difficult for that country to settle its debts on time. Grim economic reports by the IMF indicate that Ghana’s current debt level is even higher than the period before the country was declared HIPC around 2001. If the current public debt is shared among the citizenry, it could mean that every Ghanaian now owes about 3, 600 Ghana cedis.
Source: Citifmonline