Nat’l Tymes News Desk
GHANA has met the key requirements needed to join the ECOWAS single currency, the Eco, less than a year after President John Mahama took office.
The achievement, confirmed by data from the third quarter of 2025, marks one of the government’s biggest economic milestones so far.
When the Mahama administration took over in January 2025, inflation was at a troubling 23%. By the third quarter, the government had reduced it to 8%, well below ECOWAS’ requirement of keeping inflation under 10%.
On budget discipline, ECOWAS demands that member states keep their fiscal deficit at 3% or lower. Ghana has surpassed this target, recording a deficit of 2.8% of GDP.
The country has also strengthened its financial stability, with gross external reserves covering 4.8 months of imports—well above the 3-month ECOWAS benchmark.
Another key requirement is that governments should not rely heavily on central bank financing. ECOWAS rules set a ceiling of 10% of the previous year’s revenue. Under the Mahama government, Ghana recorded zero central bank financing, beating the target completely.
Ghana has also made strong progress on reducing public debt. While the ECOWAS ceiling is 70% of GDP, Ghana’s debt-to-GDP ratio had dropped to 43.8% by June 2025. This improvement came even before the IMF projected Ghana’s debt would settle between 59% and 60% by the end of the year.
With these gains, Ghana has become the only ECOWAS member state to meet nearly all the core conditions for joining the proposed single currency. This marks a dramatic turnaround from January 2025, when the economy was struggling, and credit rating agencies had downgraded Ghana to junk status.
However, the country’s renewed economic stability has attracted positive attention. Major credit rating agencies—Fitch, S&P Global, and Moody’s—have all upgraded Ghana’s ratings in recent months. Fitch and S&P now rate Ghana at B- with a stable outlook, while Moody’s has upgraded the country to Caa1.
The cedi has also strengthened significantly. After trading at nearly GH₵17 to the dollar in December 2024, the currency now stands at GH₵10.8 to the dollar, showing renewed confidence in the local economy.
Ghana’s rapid progress places it ahead of other ECOWAS member states in meeting the conditions for the Eco, boosting its credibility and positioning the country as a leader in regional economic integration.
Source: Nationaltymes.com
