Fitch Solutions has dismissed the view that Ghana’s economic woes is largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian/Ukraine war.
According to the research and market information firm, the country’s debt had reached alarming levels even before the external shocks set in.
Responding to a question at a recent Sub Saharan Africa Macroeconomic Update, Senior Country Risk Analyst, Mike Kruiniger, said both external and internal shocks caused the macroeconomic imbalances in the country.
“I think the answer is, it’s been aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Those two are not the only cost to Ghana’s woes.
“Ghana’s debt servicing costs were already rising pretty rapidly prior to the pandemic with the government having to work on pretty large scale of spending projects including restructuring of the banking sector and providing free secondary education to everyone in Ghana,” he explained.
Mr Kruiniger also blamed the high borrowing on the international capital market as one of the country’s problems.
“Ghana went back to the international capital market in early 2021, with this seamless desperation for cash. Investors started to flood the country which led the currency to sell off and after that, we’ve seen all the problems that Ghana has been facing since early 2022.”
He concluded that though the Covid-19 and the Russian Ukraine war have contributed to Ghana’s crisis, they are not only the reasons behind Ghana’s economic challenges.