AID AND DEBT MANAGEMENT DIVISION

Background Information on the Establishment of ADMD

The Aid and Debt Management Division owed its origin from the External Debt Secretariat (EDS) set up in the 1970s by Legislative Instrument (LI) 57, and located outside the Ministry devoid of the Minister’s control and supervision. The Aid component was then managed by the International Economic Relations (now External Resource Mobilisation) of MOFEP. EDS was brought to MOFEP in the late 1980s during the Structural Adjustment and Economic Reform era and named Debt Management Unit (DMU).

DMU was later streamlined with the aid management ceded to it and named Aid and Debt Management Unit (ADMU) under External Resource Mobilisation Division (Bilateral and Multilateral). The Unit’s terms of reference then was to manage the external debt and advise government on prudent external aid and debt management policies and strategies. As the focus of debt management worldwide shifted towards public debt, it becomes imperative that the Unit takes up the challenge of also managing the domestic debt from the fiscal policy management in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana. By the early 2000, the Unit was managing the total debt portfolio of government. With the venture into the international capital market to raise funds for key priority sectors of the economy in 2007, the Unit was assigned additional task of providing technical support to the Capital Market Committee (CMC) and administering bond proceeds thereafter until maturity. In the light of the widening scope of Unit’s operations and strategic role, it was upgraded into a Division in 2004. Currently, the Division operates directly under the supervision of the Deputy Minister in charge of Finance.

MANDATE

In accordance with the article 171 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and the Loans act of 1970, Act 335, the Minister of Finance has the sole mandate to borrow on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Ghana. This mandate is operationally conferred on the Aid and Debt Management Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning to source, administer and manage the public and quasi public debts, and to develop strategies for effective public debt management.

MISSION OF THE DIVISION

To assist in raising adequate levels of funding for sustainable growth and development whiles pursuing policies and strategies in line with best practice to maintain overall national debt sustainability with highly competent and motivated staff and efficient operational capabilities.

DEBT MANAGEMENT OBJECTIVES

The main debt management objective is to minimize the financial cost of the public debt while maintaining the market and operational risks at an acceptable level, taking into account the general objectives of the fiscal and monetary policies. To achieve this, the Division is challenged to pursue rigorously the following six (6) broad objectives: