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The country’s total debt has decreased by GHC150 billion during the last five months, according to President John Mahama, who attributes the improvement to strict budgetary controls and currency stabilization initiatives.
He revealed this while outlining Ghana’s strategy for attaining debt sustainability in his speech at the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Annual Meetings in Abidjan yesterday.
The recent stabilization of the cedi, according to the president, has been essential in easing pressures on debt valuation.
Thankfully, the cedi has been rising and some of the policies we implemented have only started to pay off.
Thus, we have cut our overall debt by over GHC150 billion in the last five months, which is a huge accomplishment,” he stated.
“Our debt restructuring program is 97% complete, with only commercial creditors representing 3% of the remaining debt,” President Mahama said.
“The progress follows successful negotiations with bilateral lenders earlier this year, which helped lower our debt-to-GDP,” he stated.
According to the President, if the current trajectory continues, Ghana may achieve its debt-to-GDP goal of 55–58 percent by 2028, or perhaps earlier.
“And once we do that, then it means that the whole debt restructuring has been completed.
However, as I mentioned before, in order to have a rate of return on debt, we must place any credit or debt we take out into the most productive sectors of our economy.
“We are prioritising revenue-generating projects, such as tolled highways, where income streams directly service debts,” he stated.
Under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), President Mahama pushed African countries to strengthen regional cooperation.
Having a continental free trade protocol alone is insufficient.
It means nothing if you don’t have the highways, railroads, or aviation connections necessary to trade commodities with one another.
“From a low of about 25 per cent processed cocoa, Ghana has risen to about 40 per cent.
And I know Côte d’Ivoire is ahead of us. Cote d’Ivoire has done 50 per cent, which is comfortable,” he added.
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
