I am handing over almost US$ 8 billion gross international reserves to Mahama - Akufo-Addo tells Parliament

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has debunked the assertion that the Ghana’s economy is broke as some propagandists want Ghanaians to believe. 

He said his administration was handing over the country with almost $8 billion gross international reserves.

That was more than the $6.2 billion gross international reserves his administration inherited in 2017, he said.

“Economic growth has also returned to the pre-COVID trajectory, with an impressive growth rate, rising from 4.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2024; seven per cent in the second quarter and 7.2 per cent in the third quarter,” he said.

Delivering his last message on the state of the nation address in Parliament today, President Akufo-Addo said it was projected that this year’s growth rate would be 6.3 per cent, significantly higher than the 3.4 per cent his administration inherited in 2017. 

Surplus trade balance 

The President said the growth of the economy was further reflected in the growth of private sector credit. 

Private sector credit in nominal terms, he said, grew by 28.87 per cent in October 2024, compared with the -7.5 per cent growth recorded in the same comparative period of 2023. 

In real terms, he said growth in credit to the private sector improved to 5.5 per cent compared with a contraction of 31.6 per cent recorded in October 2023. 

“It is further reinforced by improved external balances, with the current account balance improving significantly to a surplus of 2.6 per cent of GDP in the first nine months of the year, compared with a deficit of 6.6 per cent of GDP in 2016. 

“In much the same way, the trade balance has improved, and stands at a surplus of $3.85 billion, compared with a deficit of $1.8 billion in 2016,” he said. 

President Akufo-Addo added that headline inflation, which stood at 23 per cent in November this year was still very high, but it was coming down from 54 per cent recorded in December 2022 following the effects of COVID-19 and other global economic pressures. 

Declining food prices 

Encouragingly, he said food prices had also begun to decline, bringing some relief to households and contributing to a reduction in the overall cost of living.

He indicated that the government had also implemented significant measures to address the hardships that accompanied the economic difficulties. 

They include increased budgetary allocations towards the School Feeding Programme, Capitation Grant, National Health Insurance Scheme, and the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty programme, he said. 

“The stock of public and publicly guaranteed debt increased during the economic difficulties but the government is servicing its debts, honouring coupon payments for both domestic bonds and Eurobonds. 

“Moreover, the debt levels are reducing, recording a significant reduction in the debt stock by GH₵46.8 billion to GH₵761.01 billion in October 2024 from GH₵807.79 billion in September 2024,” he said. 

The President added: “The public debt-to-GDP ratio, therefore, reduced from 79.2 per cent in September 2024 to 74.6 per cent in October 2024,” he said.

That was expected to reduce further to 55 per cent of GDP in net present value terms, a level that restores Ghana’s debt sustainability, he said. 

Honouring coupon payment 

He, therefore, expressed the hoped that the new government would continue with the policies being implemented to achieve such debt sustainability target. 

He informed the House that his government would on January 3, this year honour coupon payments to Eurobond holders amounting to $346 million. 

“We cannot afford to default on our debt repayments. These achievements demonstrate our firm commitment to the policies, structural reforms, and programme objectives and targets under the programme,” he said.