Public debt: Every Ghanaian owes GH¢19,000 - Mahama

Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has said every Ghanaian owes an amount of GH¢19,000 if the country's GH¢577billion debt is shared.

According to him, the local economy which is plagued with high debt levels hinders investment in social and economic development projects.

Speaking at the TUC/NDC engagement held in Accra and monitored by GhanaWeb Business, John Dramani Mahama wondered how Ghanaians could foot the bill especially when many of the youth were unemployed.

He said unlike 2016 when Ghanaians owed GH¢4,000, the amount has now ballooned under the governing New Patriotic Party.

"Our economy is plagued by high debt levels which hinders investments in social and economic development projects...In 2016, if you shared the public debt of GH¢120 billion among 30 million Ghanaians, each Ghanaian owed GH¢4,000. Today, if you divide the debt of GH¢577billion by 30 million Ghanaians, all of us sitting here owe GH¢19,000 coupled with a relatively higher unemployment rate, particularly amongst the youth exacerbate the challenges faced by our citizens," John Dramani Mahama stated.

Ghana’s public debt as of June this year stood at GH₵575.5 billion. This represents 71.9% of Gross Domestic Debt (GDP).

This was a marginal rise of GH₵6.3 billion compared to the GH₵569.2 billion recorded in April 2023.

According to the Bank of Ghana’s Summary of Economic and Financial Data for September 2023, the country’s public debt has increased by GH₵27.7 billion since January 2023.

In dollar terms, the total debt stock stood at US$52.3 billion as of June 2023.

External debt accounted for GH₵328.6 billion (US$29.9 billion), while domestic debt accounted for GH₵246.9 billion ($30.8 billion).

SA/NOQ