Over 80% of Ghana's revenue comes from exports of three major commodities: gold, crude oil and cocoa. Unfortunately, shipments of crude oil and cocoa have been drastically reduced during the past year, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With government debt increasing to over 70% of gross domestic product (GDP) and interest payments consuming half of the country's revenue, Ghana's credit rating was reduced to B- in September 2020. Revenue spent on debt servicing increased from 39 percent in 2019 to a staggering 55 percent in 2020. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) disbursed $1 billion to Ghana in April 2020 due to the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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