The Minister of Finance Seth Terkper has noted that the fast pace of accumulating public debt, since the declaration of HIPC, has started to slow down.

"The provisional data to end-May 2016 shows that Public Debt has decreased from about 72 percent of GDP at the end of 2015 to about 63 percent atthe end of May 2016," Mr Terkper said in a supplementary budget address to parliament Monday.

Terkper said the development is the first time the country has slowed the rate of growth of accumulating public debt  in post-HIPC era.

He said: "Mr. Speaker, let’s be clear on the progress we are making. This is the first time in our post-HIPC era that we have slowed the rate of growth of accumulating public debt—as measured by the internationally-accepted Debt/GDP ratio. Moreover, we have achieved this feat against the background of enormous economic pressures, which resulted in the growth of GDP (the denominator in the ratio) actually dipping for four successive years."

Terkper said regardless of challenges that are often beyond the control of government, he noted that "we keep transforming the economy through superior strategies and programs."