Debt – Institute for Fiscal Studies Ghana

June 1, 2015

Ghana Debt & Debt Sustainability May 2015 [Occasional Paper 03]

Occasional Paper 3. Ghana Debt & Debt Sustainability May 2015 Ghana’s public debt situation has worsened in recent years and the country now faces a high risk of debt distress and increased overall debt vulnerability. Total public debt service-to-revenue ratio (including payments on external and domestic debt) has not only assumed a rapidly increasing path but has breached its indicative long term threshold. Click here to read full report

January 25, 2018

Is Ghana in a Debt Trap?

Fiscal Alert 9: Is Ghana in a Debt Trap? In tabling the Budget for 2018, the government outlined its strategy to bring the public debt on a declining path to eliminate the risk of debt distress and strengthen the country’s debt sustainability. This paper, which is an extract of IFS’s review of the 2018 and Economic Policy of the Government of Ghana, provides comments and some policy suggestions to help address Ghana’s rising debt problem. Read full paper here

February 22, 2018

Implications of Energy Sector State-Owned Enterprises Debt Restructuring for the Fiscal Position and the Banking Sector

Fiscal Alert 10: Implications of Energy Sector State-Owned Enterprises Debt Restructuring for the Fiscal Position and the Banking Sector This paper seeks to assess the implications of the restructuring of the energy sector State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) debt for Ghana’s fiscal position and the banking sector. The paper reviews the financial performance of Ghana’s energy sector SOEs, the restructuring of the energy sector debt examines the Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA) and the energy sector bonds. This is followed by a discussion of the implications of the energy sector debt restructuring for the government’s fiscal position and the banking sector, respectively. […]

August 6, 2019

IFS’ Assessment of 2019 Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review

On Monday July 29, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, presented the mid-year review of the 2019 budget statement and fiscal policy to Parliament. Notable fiscal policy changes that were announced include energy and communication tax hikes and a request to spend more money (supplementary expenditure estimates) relative to the initial 2019 budget appropriation. Prior to the mid-year budget, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) had reviewed the economy’s performance and provided recommendations to the government to address challenges identified. In what follows, we assess the notable developments in the mid-year review and make further recommendations to safeguard fiscal stability, which […]