Saturday, May 31, 2025
Ghana Fact
  • Who We Are
    • About Us
    • How we work
    • Submit a claim to check
    • Partners
    • Our Team
    • Funding
    • Principles
    • Corrections
    • Privacy Policy
    • Press Releases
  • Contact
  • Home
    • Latest
    • Trending
  • Governance
  • DisinfoLab
  • Politics
    • Election 2020
    • Election 2024
  • Economy
  • Health
    • COVID-19
  • Environment
  • AI & Deepfakes
No Result
View All Result
Ghana Fact
  • Home
    • Latest
    • Trending
  • Governance
  • DisinfoLab
  • Politics
    • Election 2020
    • Election 2024
  • Economy
  • Health
    • COVID-19
  • Environment
  • AI & Deepfakes
No Result
View All Result
Ghana Fact
No Result
View All Result
Home Economy

FACT-CHECK: Jubilee House shares time series of Ghana’s debt to GDP ratio

ghanafactbyghanafact
July 12, 2022
in Economy
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
FACT-CHECK: Jubilee House shares time series of Ghana's debt to GDP ratio
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on ThreadsWhatsApp

Claim: Time series of Ghana’s public debt to GDP ratio

Source: Presidency of the Republic of Ghana

Researched by Gifty Tracy Aminu

The official Facebook page of the Presidency of the Republic of Ghana – Jubilee House – has posted several visual cards to provide relevant economic information and some clarity to the public on the government’s decision to seek an IMF bailout programme.

One of the visual cards (21) shared by the Jubilee House Facebook page to its more than 100 thousand followers claimed that Ghana’s public debt to Gross Domestic Production (GDP) ratio at the end of 2021 stood at 76.6%.

FACT-CHECK: Jubilee House shares time series of Ghana's debt to GDP ratio
A screenshot of the post by Jubilee House

According to the government: “Public debt to GDP ratio increased from 54.2% in 2017 to 61.2% in 2019 to 74.4% in 2020 and increased further to 76.6% at the end of 2021.”

RelatedNews

CONFIRMED: Two cases of Marburg Virus Disease in Ghana; here is a factsheet about the highly infectious disease

CONFIRMED: Two cases of Marburg Virus Disease in Ghana; here is a factsheet about the highly infectious disease

FACT-CHECK: Ghana has NOT recorded a case of Monkeypox

FACT-CHECK: Ghana has NOT recorded a case of Monkeypox

FACT-CHECK: How does Ghana’s inflation rate compare to 3 other countries in the subregion?

FACT-CHECK: How does Ghana’s inflation rate compare to 3 other countries in the subregion?

WHO: There is no evidence to suggest that coronavirus cannot spread in hot weather

WHO: There is no evidence to suggest that coronavirus cannot spread in hot weather

But how accurate are the figures? This fact-check report seeks to verify:

  1. Ghana’s public debt stock at the end of 2017
  2. Ghana’s public debt stock at the end of 2018
  3. Ghana’s public debt stock at the end of 2019
  4. Ghana’s public debt stock at the end of 2020
  5. Ghana’s public debt stock at the end of 2021

 

Fact-Check

The annual public debt report for the 2017 financial year presented to Parliament in March 2018 by the Finance Ministry(MOFEP)y states that “the total public debt to GDP ratio, which had increased consistently to about 73.1% as at the end of 2016, declined to 69. 85% by the end of 2017.”

The Ghana Statistical Service has since rebased its economic calculations from the base year of 2006 to 2013 – which has since impacted the calculation of the country’s debt to GDP ratio.

The subsequent annual public debt report for the 2019 financial year confirms that “as at end-December 2019, the total gross public debt outstanding stood at GH¢217,990.7 million. As a percentage of GDP, the debt-to-GDP ratio at end-December 2019 was 63%, up from 57.6% at end-December 2018.”

However, the Bank of Ghana(BoG) in its Monetary Policy Report (January 2021) stated that total public debt as a percentage of GDP as of December 2019 was 62.38%.

“Gross public debt, as at the end of December 2020, stood at GH₵291.63 billion (US$50.83 billion), representing 76.1 percent of GDP and an increase of 33.6% compared to the stock in 2019,” the 2020 Public Debt Statistical Bulletin by the Finance Ministry has stated.

FACT-CHECK: Jubilee House shares time series of Ghana's debt to GDP ratio
Source: MoFEP 2020 Public Debt Statistical Bulletin

Meanwhile, the summary of economic and financial data presented by the Bank of Ghana in May 2022 states that Ghana’s total debt to GDP ratio at the end of 2021 was 76.6% – despite an earlier report by the BoG pegging the ratio at 80.1%.

Ghana’s public debts/GDP

Year Jubilee House figures Verified Data
2017 54.2% 55.5%
2018 – 57.6%
2019 61.2% 63%
2020 74.4% 76.1%
2021 76.6% 76.6%

Source: BoG/ MoF

 

Verdict

The debt to GDP ratios for 2017, 2019 and 2020 published by the Jubilee House are inaccurate. Meanwhile, the debt to GDP ratio at the end of 2021 of 76.6% is correct.

Tags: Ghana Fact-Check
ShareTweetShareSend

Related Posts

FACT-CHECK: Inusah Fuseini understates ECG’s transmission and commercial losses 

FACT-CHECK: Inusah Fuseini understates ECG’s transmission and commercial losses 

False! Cement prices have not dropped to GH¢82 or GH¢85 

False! Cement prices have not dropped to GH¢82 or GH¢85 

True! US dollar did not hit GH¢17 under the last NPP government

True! US dollar did not hit GH¢17 under the last NPP government

FACT-CHECK: President Mahama did not blame IMF for ‘failure’ to abolish COVID-19 Levy

FACT-CHECK: President Mahama did not blame IMF for ‘failure’ to abolish COVID-19 Levy

Misleading! All foreign gold traders have not been ordered to leave Ghana by April 30

Misleading! All foreign gold traders have not been ordered to leave Ghana by April 30

False! IMF hasn’t complained about number of committees created by the Mahama-led government

False! IMF hasn’t complained about number of committees created by the Mahama-led government

Load More

Most Recent

FACT-CHECK: Inusah Fuseini understates ECG’s transmission and commercial losses 

FACT-CHECK: Inusah Fuseini understates ECG’s transmission and commercial losses 

True! Mills-Mahama governments issued only four small-scale mining licences in 8 years

True! Mills-Mahama governments issued only four small-scale mining licences in 8 years

False! Bill Gates did not propose vaccinating livestock in Africa

False! Bill Gates did not propose vaccinating livestock in Africa

FACT-CHECK: Viral photo of Ibrahim Traore’s family is manipulated 

FACT-CHECK: Viral photo of Ibrahim Traore’s family is manipulated 

Load More

Most Popular

South Korea and Japan are not offering $75000 for Black Men to impregnate their women

South Korea and Japan are not offering $75000 for Black Men to impregnate their women

FACT-CHECK: Viral photo of Ibrahim Traore’s family is manipulated 

FACT-CHECK: Viral photo of Ibrahim Traore’s family is manipulated 

FACT-CHECK: Inusah Fuseini understates ECG’s transmission and commercial losses 

FACT-CHECK: Inusah Fuseini understates ECG’s transmission and commercial losses 

True! Mills-Mahama governments issued only four small-scale mining licences in 8 years

True! Mills-Mahama governments issued only four small-scale mining licences in 8 years

Load More
Ghana Facts - factscheck

GhanaFact is a project by FactSpace West Africa aimed at curbing the spread of disinformation on traditional and social media.

Follow Us

Browse Articles

  • AI & Deepfakes
  • DisinfoLab
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Election 2024
  • Environment
  • General News
  • Governance
  • Health
    • COVID-19
  • Other Checks
  • Politics
  • Press Releases
  • Promise Meter

Contact

Address: P. O. Box AB 521, Abeka-Lapaz, Accra

WhatsApp: +233 244 49 9971

Email: info@ghanafact.com

Memberships

Memberships
  • Submit a claim to verify
  • Contact
  • Corrections
  • Team
  • About
  • Funding
  • How we work
  • Partners
  • Principles
  • Privacy Policy

© 2025 Ghana Fact - All rights reserved - Web development by EnspireFX Websites.

Welcome Back!

Sign In with Google
OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Sign Up with Google
OR

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • Latest
    • Trending
  • Contact Us
  • Governance
  • DisinfoLab
  • Politics
    • Election 2020
    • Election 2024
  • Economy
  • Health
    • COVID-19
  • Environment
  • Other Checks
  • AI & Deepfakes
  • Who We Are
    • About Us
      • Partners
      • Press Releases
      • Principles
      • Privacy Policy
    • How we work
    • Submit a claim to check
    • GhanaFact Team
    • Funding
    • Corrections

© 2025 Ghana Fact - All rights reserved - Web development by EnspireFX Websites.