05 Feb 2024

Public debt levels remain within the statutory ceiling of 40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), says finance minister, Ms Peggy Serame.

Delivering the 2024/2025 Budget Proposals in Parliament yesterday, she said  public debt had slightly increased and that at the end of December 2023, total external debt to GDP was 9.5 per cent while domestic debt to GDP was 10.7 per cent, making a total exposure of 20.2 per cent of GDP.

Ms Serame, however, said despite the increase, the medium-term risk of debt distress remained low.
She said six budget support loans were contracted externally together with the domestic issuance of government securities to finance structural deficits experienced over the years.

She said to further improve domestic capital markets, government borrowing strategy and issuance calendar for the financial year 2023/2024 was unveiled in June 2023.

The minister noted that the purpose of the strategy was to provide domestic market participants with a more secure basis for making future investment decisions, and that government would in the 2024/2025 financial year implement a new three-year medium-term debt management strategy that would align future borrowing choices with government’s preferred cost and risk levels. Ends