The COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine conflict have exacerbated Ghana's fiscal and external imbalances. The government has taken steps toward consolidating the fiscal deficit, including the recent passage of the Exemptions bill, but high borrowing costs and softening growth make it challenging to put debt to GDP on a downward path. In light of the government's elevated net and gross financing needs and limited access to external capital markets, as well as the domestic financial market's constrained financing capacity, we lowered our foreign and local currency sovereign ratings on Ghana to 'CCC+/C' from 'B-/B'. The outlook is negative, reflecting Ghana's limited commercial financing options, and constrained external and fiscal buffers. On Aug. 5, 2022, S&P Global Ratings lowered its foreign and
