ACCRA, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has ruled out the country's return to the international capital market any time soon to seek external financing for development.

Mahama made the remarks late Wednesday during his maiden media encounter since returning to power in January, stressing that he believed Ghana could continue for a while without returning to the capital market despite the improved ratings from some global sovereign rating agencies.

According to the president, the West African cocoa, gold, and crude oil exporter has been able to hold its ground through fiscal discipline by reordering its expenditure and channeling funds to areas of highest priority.

"We have gone from negative 3.4 percent of the primary balance to positive 1.1 percent as of now. By the end of the year, I am sure we will achieve the target of 1.5 percent," the president said.

Ghana's three-year reforms, supported by the International Monetary Fund, have passed four successive reviews, with the sovereign credit rating agency Fitch Ratings upgrading the country's long-term foreign-currency issuer default rating to "B-" from "restricted default" in June, following an upgrade by Standard and Poor's from "selective default" to "CCC+" in May. ■