This study tests the validity of the hypothesis that the regulatory and macroeconomic environments and the disparity between domestic and international interest rates are important determinants of short-term foreign debt stock in a developing economy like Ghana. This study employs a time series econometric analysis of annual secondary data covering the period 1970 to 2012. More specifically, the bounds testing approach is used to estimate the impact of potential determinants-identified in the theoretical and empirical literature-on the real stock of short-term foreign debt in Ghana. The study finds that a reduction in regulatory restrictions on external borrowing, a widening of the disparity between domestic and international interest rates, economic growth performance and domestic financial deepening lead to increases in the short-term foreign debt stock in both the long and short run, respectively. The short-term foreign debt stock reduces in response to an increase in trade openness in the short run, and to international debt relief initiatives by multilateral development institutions in the long run.

The study employed a Structural VAR model, using monthly time series data from 2002 to 2017 to assess the relationship between trade openness and effectiveness of monetary policy in Ghana. The empirical results revealed that as the degree of trade openness increases, monetary policy becomes more effective in reducing the rate of inflation. However, monetary policy is less effective to reduce the output gap. Therefore, the results suggest that monetary policy authorities must take into account the level of trade openness whenever they are formulating monetary policy.