Ghana will not issue Eurobonds between 2027 and 2030, with the government instead planning to rely on domestic borrowing and tightly limited project loans to finance its budget.
The approach is outlined in the Ministry of Finance’s 2027 Fiscal Strategy Document, released ahead of Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson’s presentation of the 2027 Budget to Parliament on Thursday, November 12.
The medium-term plan states there will be “no issuance of Eurobonds in 2027 and the medium term”. Banking and non-banking domestic borrowing will provide the remaining financing needed through 2030.
A Eurobond is a government bond issued in a foreign currency and sold to international investors. Ghana lost access to the market during its 2022 debt crisis before restructuring its external debt.
In July 2026, the government paid a US$700 million Eurobond obligation ahead of schedule. That brought total payments to bondholders since January 2025 to US$2.1 billion.
The new strategy is intended to reduce the risk of relying on external refinancing. It prioritises medium and long-term domestic bonds, including infrastructure bonds, while limiting short-term treasury bills to about 15 per cent of domestic debt.
The government will transfer 7 per cent of domestic non-oil tax revenue into the Sinking Fund each month. The Ministry of Finance estimates those contributions at GH¢16 billion in 2026 and GH¢20 billion in 2027.
New domestic bond issuance is projected at GH¢17 billion in 2026 and GH¢19 billion in 2027. The Sinking Fund will be used to repay domestic bonds maturing in 2027 and 2028.
Most external financing is expected to come through the World Bank’s Development Policy Operation. Draw-downs from existing project loans will be capped at US$250 million for bilateral lenders and US$400 million for multilateral institutions.
The ministry forecasts that public debt will fall to 44.8 per cent of GDP by 2034, below the 45 per cent ceiling established by the fiscal rule. External debt is expected to decline to below 14 per cent of GDP.
IMF conditions and economic risks
The framework reflects Ghana’s commitments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). IMF staff approved the first review of the country’s three-year Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI) after discussions in Accra concluded on November 4.
“The 2027 Budget is built on strong foundations,” IMF Mission Chief Ruben Atoyan said.
“Consistent with the PCI, it targets a primary surplus of 0.5 percent of GDP on a commitment basis, supported by revenue measures already approved by the Parliament in July,” he added in a statement issued at the end of the mission.
Atoyan said the resulting fiscal space would support investment under the New Economy, including job creation, investment opportunities and efforts to address Ghana’s infrastructure deficit. He said strict project appraisal, competitive procurement and expenditure controls would be necessary to protect value for money and debt sustainability.
The economy expanded by 6.2 per cent in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, while inflation stood at 5.5 per cent in October.
Atoyan warned that Ghana remained vulnerable to movements in gold, cocoa and oil prices, as well as risks linked to the refinancing of domestic debt.
“Prudent monetary policy, greater exchange rate flexibility, stronger reserve buffers, and buildup of a sinking fund to pay for maturing debt remain key to safeguarding stability,” he said.
Revenue concerns
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said weak revenue collection could undermine the government’s infrastructure programme.
IFS Executive Director Dr Said Boakye said revenue and grants represented 15.7 per cent of GDP in 2025, equivalent to about GH¢224.88 billion. Matching the Sub-Saharan African average of 20.1 per cent would have produced about GH¢288.26 billion.
Boakye identified low extractive revenues, revenue leakages and extensive tax exemptions as the main causes. Mining revenue averaged 15 per cent of mining value added between 2019 and 2023 and fell to 11.9 per cent in 2025, compared with 60.9 per cent in Botswana.
The IFS proposed greater state participation or production-sharing agreements in mining, tighter controls and AI-assisted port monitoring, and a “carrot and stick” system for revenue collectors. The Ghana Revenue Authority said in April 2026 that more than GH¢11 billion had been lost at the ports.
It also called for a review of all 31 tax incentive packages listed by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, including Free Zones and automotive concessions, with exemptions failing to produce jobs or foreign exchange removed.
The Peasant Farmers Association and other groups are demanding that at least 10 per cent of the 2027 Budget go to agriculture. Forson’s statement on November 12 will show how the government intends to finance its US$10 billion New Economy agenda without returning to international bond markets.
