Former President John Dramani Mahama has declared Ghana officially broke on his twitter page.
In a short post on his twitter feed, the former president wrote “Tragic! Ghana officially bankrupt.”
His declaration comes after Ghana has faced numerous economic hardships especially in the past few months with inflation going up exponentially as the cedi saw its record low depreciation to be the worst performing currency in the world.
The Ministry of Finance on Monday in a press release announced the suspension of payment on selected external debts, which has been interpreted by some, especially members of the opposition as bankruptcy.
According to the ministry, 2022 has been a tough year for Ghana with the country been plunged into an economic crisis with the rest of the world due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine just as economies were recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Finance says after the Government’s Debt Sustainability Ananlysis (DSA), public debt comprising of external and domestic are not sustainable.
In the press statement, suspension on the payments of debts will be on Eurobonds, commercial term loans and most bilateral debt.
Payments on multilateral debts, new debts (whether multilateral or otherwise) contracted after December 19, 2022, and debts related to certain short-term trade facilities are however exempted from the exceptions.
Chief Operations Officer of Dalex, Mr. Joe Jackson in a post on his twitter handle said “Ghana has officially defaulted on its external debt payments. The worst that was expected has happened. It almost seems like an anticlimax. The event has passed without much comment even though ‘Ghana has crossed the Rubicon’.”
The president speaking on the economy at the Ga Presbytery Centenary Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, December 18, 2022, said the nation is not out of the woods despite the appreciation of the cedis against major currencies.
The ministry mentioned that a Staff-Level agreement has been reached with the IMF, which aims at restoring macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability.
Read his tweet below:
