Claim: Ghanaian opposition legislator Haruna Iddrisu says President Nana Akufo-Addo inherited a total public debt of GHȼ120 billion in Jan. 2017 and has increased it to GHȼ745 billion as of Sept. 23, 2024.
Verdict: False. JUSTFACT GHANA’s search showed Ghana’s total public debt as of Dec. 31, 2016, was GHȼ122.2 billion, not GHȼ120 billion, as the lawmaker alleged. The Annual Public Debt Report for the 2020 Financial Year pegged the country’s public debt in 2016 at GHȼ122.2 billion, equivalent to $29.2 billion. Also, the total public debt of the country as of July 31, 2024, was GHȼ761.2 billion, equivalent to $51.1 billion, according to the latest Bank of Ghana’s Summary of Economic and Financial Data published in Sept.
Background
The Tamale South Member of Parliament (MP), Haruna Iddrisu, has asked President Nana Akufo-Addo to account to Ghanaians how he had used the country’s resources.
Speaking to Accra-based TV3, the opposition lawmaker and former Employment Minister said Ghana’s total public debt has increased with no commensurate projects to show for it.
“I hope that many of you in the media must pay attention – the poor performance and failed performance of the NPP is not just manifesting in the economy where you have a colossal debt to borrow the word of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo President of the Republic. A debt you inherited at GHȼ120 billion? Today, [it is] GHȼ745 billion. To whom much is given, much is to be expected,” Mr Iddrisu said.
For Mr Iddrisu’s comment about the public debt President Nana Akufo-Addo inherited in 2017, see minutes 29:26 to 30:09 of the video Accra-based TV3 posted on YouTube.
The social media data showed that as of Sept. 28, 2024, the video had received over 27,807 views and 81 comments.
Investigations
When JUSTFACT GHANA investigated the claim, it was discovered that contrary to Mr. Iddrisu’s claim, Ghana’s total public debt as of Jan. 2017 was GHȼ122.2 billion, not GHȼ120 billion.
This conclusion is backed by the Annual Public Debt Report for the 2020 Financial Year submitted to Ghana’s Parliament on Mar. 29, 2021, which revealed that the country’s public debt in 2016 was GHȼ122.2 billion, equivalent to
According to the report cited by JUSTFACT GHANA, the country’s Gross Nominal Public Debt – domestic and external, was $29,203.8 in millions of US dollars, equivalent to $29.2 billion.
Similarly, the Annual Debt Management Report for the Year 2016, submitted by the country’s former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, disclosed Ghana’s total public debt was $29.2 billion, equivalent to GHȼ122.2 billion.
See page 5 of the report Ghana’s Ministry of Finance submitted here.
Also, as of July 31, 2024, the country’s total public debt was GHȼ761.2 billion, equivalent to $51.1 billion, according to Bank of Ghana’s Summary of Economic and Financial Data published in Sept.
See page 8 of the BoG’s Summary of Economic and Financial Data published in Sept. here.
Conclusion
Ghana’s total public debt as of Dec. 31, 2016, was GHȼ122.2 billion, not GHȼ120 billion, and as of July 31, 2024, was GHȼ761.1 billion, not GHȼ745 billion, as Mr Iddrisu alleged.
