Ghana’s public debt has been quietly climbing for most of the 2026 fiscal year as the latest Summary of Economic and Financial Data published by the Bank of Ghana has revealed the country now owes a total of GH₵720.8 billion as of May 2026.
According to the Bank of Ghana’s Data, released on July 21, 2026, total public debt stood at GH₵720.8 billion (US$61.5 billion) at the end of May 2026, equivalent to 45.1% of GDP. That is up from GH₵695.9 billion in April, a jump of GH₵24.9 billion, roughly 3.6% in a single month.
It is interesting to note that although the public debt stock went up in cedis terms, it rather declined in dollars. This is the clearest evidence yet of how much of the country’s debt burden heavily debt depends on the stability of the cedi. The data shows that the dollar value of the debt actually dropped, from US$62.2 billion to US$61.5 billion, a decline of US$0.7 billion.
A Year Back
When zoomed out to the twelve months to May 2025, the picture sharpens further. Total public debt has risen from GH₵613.4 billion in May 2025 to GH₵720.8 billion in May 2026. This means that over the 12-month period, there has been an increase of GH₵107.4 billion, or 17.5%.
However, the dollar value of that same debt grew by a much gentler 3.2%, from US$59.6 billion to US$61.5 billion. The debt-to-GDP ratio tells a similar tale of two speeds. It stood at 42.8% in May 2025 and now sits at 45.1% in May 2026, a rise of 2.3 percentage points over the year.
That single number will likely dominate discussion around tomorrow’s Mid-Year Budget Review, since it puts Ghana’s debt trajectory back on an upward path after the post-restructuring gains of late 2025 and early 2026.
The External Component
Ghana’s external debt has been remarkably disciplined in dollar terms over the past year. The data reveals that it is hovering in a tight band between US$28.9 billion and US$29.6 billion, and settling at US$29.1 billion in May 2026, barely changed from US$28.9 billion a year earlier.
That mild growth is an outcome of a country still largely locked out of fresh international capital markets after its debt restructuring, servicing what it owes rather than adding meaningfully to it.
But translate that same stable dollar figure into cedis, and the story changes completely. External debt in cedi terms jumped from GH₵297.7 billion in May 2025 to GH₵341.7 billion in May 2026, a rise of nearly 15%, and climbed GH₵14.9 billion in May alone, its steepest single-month increase in the dataset.
As a share of GDP, external debt firmed to 21.4% in May, up nearly a full percentage point from April’s 20.5%. Ghana isn’t borrowing more from abroad; the cedi is simply making the old borrowing look bigger.
The Domestic Component
While external debt grabs attention because of the currency effect, it is domestic debt that has been the steadier, more persistent driver of Ghana’s overall debt build-up. Domestic debt rose from GH₵315.6 billion in May 2025 to a record GH₵379.1 billion in May 2026. This represents an increase of 20.1% over the year, and the highest level in the entire eighteen-month dataset.
Unlike external debt, this growth cannot be blamed on the exchange rate; it reflects the government’s continued reliance on the domestic market, such as treasury bills, bonds, and other cedi instruments, to plug financing gaps.
Domestic debt alone has added GH₵9.9 billion in the month of May and now accounts for 23.7% of GDP, up from 21.3% as recently as January. Taken together with external debt’s currency-driven climb, domestic borrowing means Ghana is now leaning on both fronts at once, one pushed by the market, the other pushed by policy choices at home.
Four Straight Months of Increase in 2026
Perhaps the most striking trend sits in the debt-to-GDP ratio itself. After falling to a recent low of 41.5% in January 2026, helped along by a rebased, larger nominal GDP of GH₵1,597.1 billion for the year, the ratio has climbed in every single month since: 41.5% in January, 42.2% in February, 42.9% in March, 43.6% in April, and now 45.1% in May.
That is 3.6 percentage points of ground regained in just four months, undoing much of the relief Ghana’s debt restructuring had bought policymakers barely a year earlier.
The Impact
The data lands on the eve of the Mid-Year Budget Review, when the Finance Ministry will have to explain not just whether revenue targets were met, but whether the debt trajectory itself is still credible. A debt ratio climbing for four consecutive months requires explanation from the Finance Minister.
As the Finance Minister prepares to deliver the Mid-Year Review, Ghanaians, analysts, economists and development partners will be expecting measures to control the debt at a time the country is exiting the IMF bailout programme.
