The World Bank has warned of significant debt vulnerabilities despite Ghana’s November 2024 upgrade from “debt distress” to “high risk of debt distress”.
According to the Bretton Woods institution, negotiations with commercial creditors are still ongoing, and the sovereign-bank nexus has weakened following the domestic debt exchange.
In its latest report on Sub-Saharan Africa (Africa Economic Update), it however said The Common Framework’s operational efficiency continued to improve relative to earlier applications, with the four Sub‑Saharan African cases—Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Zambia— each recording progress in 2025, and the Framework’s operational efficiency continued to improve relative to earlier applications.
“Ghana has reached a comparable stage: by October 2025, more than 95 percent of required debt treatment had been agreed, and four bilateral agreements were signed by end‑September”.
Ghana’s debt decreased by GH¢85.7 billion year-on-year to GH¢641.0 billion in December 2025. This translated into 45.3% of Gross Domestic Product.
Risks to Outlook
The World Bank also cautioned against the risks to the outlook, saying, while economic activity continues to improve gradually in Sub‑Saharan Africa, the outlook remains subject to downside risks.
“Across political, trade, climate, and technology-related risks, the distribution remains tilted toward adverse outcomes, with potential negative shocks outweighing prospective positive ones. Nevertheless, each of these areas also presents opportunities, and effective policy action—along with individual and institutional initiatives— will be critical in shaping the overall risk environment”, it mentioned.
Primary Balance
Meanwhile, Ghana saw the largest projected improvement in primary balance between 2024 and 2026.
The country’s primary balance according to the Bank of Ghana stood at a deficit of 3.1% of GDP.
Overall, the primary balance is anticipated to strengthen by 0.8 percentage points of GDP between 2024 and 2026.
