{
  "id": 2015202,
  "title": "Eurobond borrowings over 2007-2021 used for budget financing; Ghana borrowed US$15.59bn – Opoku-Afari",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/eurobond-borrowings-over-2007-2021-used-for-budget-financing-ghana",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-19T20:49:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Joy Business",
    "slug": "joy-business",
    "url": "https://www.myjoyonline.com/eurobond-borrowings-over-2007-2021-used-for-budget-financing-ghana-borrowed-us15-59bn-opoku-afari/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari, a former First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, has revealed that Ghana's Eurobond borrowings from 2007 to 2021 were primarily used for budget financing, with a significant portion allocated to recurrent expenditure. This practice resulted in the widening of fiscal deficits, exacerbated by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian-Ukraine conflict, sharp depreciation of the currency, and the loss of market access in 2022. In an article titled \"How not to Miss a Crisis: Lessons from Ghana,\" Dr. Opoku-Afari, a Non-Resident Fellow of Finance for Development Lab, noted that Ghana's public debt had risen from 63% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019 to 93% by the end of 2022 when the IMF-supported programme was approved. He highlighted that the country's mounting fiscal and balance of payments headwinds made it challenging for the government to service its debt, ultimately leading to a technical default. In December 2022, Ghana declared a unilateral suspension of debt service payments on Eurobonds, along with most bilateral loans and commercial term loans, effectively defaulting on a significant portion of its external public debt. This decision came after years of borrowing to bridge budgetary financing gaps, with Ghana borrowing US$15.59 billion from the international capital market over the period 2007-2021 through nine issuances. Dr. Opoku-Afari, who served as a mission chief at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the 2015-2019 programme, stated that the IMF-supported initiative did not fundamentally change Ghana's underlying fiscal and structural constraints, despite reducing budget and trade deficits. Between 2010 and 2019, Ghana was considered one of Africa's top eight economic performers, experiencing volatile but steady growth. The country implemented an IMF-supported reform program, modernized its Public Financial Management framework under fiscal rules, strengthened debt management institutions, and consistently received favorable Debt Sustainability Analyses from the IMF and World Bank, which did not indicate an imminent sovereign debt crisis. However, within a few years, this promising economic trajectory deteriorated into one of the most severe sovereign debt crises in Ghana's history, culminating in a debt restructuring program by December 2022. Dr. Opoku-Afari questioned how a nation that seemed to possess the institutional safeguards of sound fiscal management could descend into debt distress, despite strong economic growth, IMF-endorsed fiscal reforms, fiscal rules, and continuous macroeconomic surveillance. He posed critical questions on whether the \"Ghana Beyond Aid\" vision was merely an illusion or an ambition disconnected from Ghanaian reality, and if the IMF's 2015-2019 programme prioritized short-term fiscal consolidation over essential institutional reforms for long-term fiscal resilience.",
  "summary": "In an article titled “How not to Miss a Crisis: Lessons from Ghana”, Dr. Opoku-Afari who is a Non-Resident Fellow of Finance for Development Lab said Ghana’s public debt had surged from about 63% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019 to about 93% by the end of 2022 at the time of the IMF-supported programme approval in 2023, adding, the headwinds of fiscal and balance of payments made it…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "MyJoyOnline Ghana",
        "title": "Eurobond borrowings over 2007-2021 used for budget financing; Ghana borrowed US$15.59bn – Opoku-Afari",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/eurobond-borrowings-over-2007-2021-used-for-budget-financing-ghana-2018568",
        "published": "2026-08-19T20:49:20.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}