The ratings agency says debt restructuring, a stronger cedi and cheaper local borrowing have cut Ghana’s interest bill sharply from its 2021 peak of nearly 48% of revenue.
Ghana will spend an average of about 20% of government revenue on interest payments over the next four years, according to S&P Global Ratings, the United States-based credit ratings agency.
That figure sounds heavy, and it is. But it is a long way down from where Ghana was. The agency noted that the cost of servicing government debt peaked at nearly 48% of revenue in 2021, meaning almost half of every cedi collected went to interest alone before the country's debt crisis forced a restructuring.
Why the bill has come down
S&P credits three main factors, as reported by MyJoyOnline.
The first is the debt restructuring itself. The second is the cedi's appreciation in 2025. The third is cheaper local borrowing, as inflation and domestic interest rates fell to multiyear lows.
The numbers on treasury bills tell that story clearly. Interest on six-month treasury bills has dropped to roughly 6.5%, and one-year bills to 10.1%. At the end of 2024, both were close to 30%. Treasury bills are the short-term IOUs government sells to investors to fund itself, so when those rates fall, the state's day-to-day borrowing gets much cheaper.
Inflation has followed a similar path. It fell to 3.2% in March 2026, near the lowest rate ever recorded in Ghana, before easing back up modestly to 5% at the end of August 2026. Between 2022 and 2024, inflation averaged 31% a year, which S&P partly attributes to the Bank of Ghana printing money directly for government in the run-up to and during the debt crisis.
The cedi picture
For Ghanaians sending money home from the United States, the exchange rate matters most. The cedi has weakened by 9.2% since the start of 2026. Even so, S&P says it remains 43% stronger than at its worst point. In November 2024, the currency sank to GH\u00a216.47 to the US dollar.
Longer bonds are back
After the domestic debt exchange of December 2022, the Ministry of Finance banned the issuance of new medium- and long-term domestic bonds for three years. In 2026, government resumed issuing longer-tenor bonds. S&P expects this to stretch out the maturity profile of Ghana's cedi debt, meaning fewer large repayments bunched together in the short term.
What could go wrong
S&P flagged the conflict in the Middle East as a risk. It warned that the fallout could push inflation and financing costs back up and put fresh pressure on the cedi, eroding part of the progress Ghana has made.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson is Ghana's Minister for Finance.
