Every Ghanaian now owes some one/corporation about 3, 600 Ghana cedis as the country has been officially classified as Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC).
HIPC status means it would be difficult for that country to settle its debts on time.
According to data from the Bank of Ghana the country’s debt is now about 71 percent of the total value of the economy.
World Bank parameters say if a country’s debt-to-GDP ratio crosses the 70% debt mark, the country is classified HIPC.
Ghana’s public debt went up from about 89 billion Ghana cedis in May to about 95 billion as at June this year.
The sharp increase in the public debt is attributed to the depreciation of the cedi and not necessarily due to increased government borrowing.
Grim economic reports by the IMF indicate that Ghana’s current debt level is even higher than the period before the country was declared HIPC around 2001.
If the current public debt is shared among the citizenry, it could mean that