FACT CHECK: John Boadu’s claim that current gov't borrowed more in one year than NPP did in 8 years is false

The former General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party, John Boadu, on March 30, 2026, claimed on Lawson TV (https://www.youtube.com/live/cGLRIF4kM6A?si=5bHI0n5YI8QvnyHB) [2:00:43–2:39:59] that the new NDC administration has borrowed more in just 14 months (January 7, 2025, to March 2026) than the NPP government did in eight years (2017–2024).

He said, “The NDC has borrowed more money than all the eight years of the NPP administration. Just their recent assumption of office.”

A careful review of official Bank of Ghana and Ministry of Finance data by the EIB Fact and Research Desk shows that debt accumulation under the NPP government far exceeds any borrowing recorded under the new NDC administration to date. At the end of 2016, Ghana’s total public debt stood at approximately GH¢122.6 billion, representing roughly 56% of GDP. By December 2024, total debt had risen to GH¢726.7 billion, an increase of about GH¢604 billion over eight years. This growth included both domestic and external borrowing, with external debt at roughly US$28.3 billion (GH¢416.9 billion) and domestic debt at GH¢309.8 billion.

As of March 2026, Ghana’s total public debt is estimated at GH¢641.0 billion, representing 45.3% of GDP. This is a reduction of approximately GH¢85 billion compared to December 2024. This decrease is attributed to debt restructuring, strategic domestic borrowing, and the appreciation of the Ghana cedi, which reduced the local currency value of external obligations. Ghana recorded a negative debt accumulation rate of –13.3% in 2025, the first decline in over a decade, showing that debt actually fell during the NDC administration’s first 14 months.

Improvements in macroeconomic indicators accompanied the debt reduction: inflation fell from 23.8% in December 2024 to 3.8% by January 2026, and the 91-day Treasury bill rate declined to 6.5%, lowering the cost of borrowing. To support John Boadu’s claim, debt would have had to increase by over GH¢600 billion in just 14 months, a figure unsupported by any official data. The numbers clearly indicate that the NDC administration has not borrowed more than the NPP did over eight years.

Based on the available data and evidence from official Bank of Ghana records, the EIB Fact and Research Desk concludes that the claim made by John Boadu is false. The numbers clearly show that debt accumulation under the NPP government far exceeded any borrowing recorded under the NDC administration in its first 14 months, demonstrating that the assertion is unsupported by evidence.