The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) on Wednesday announced an increase in the country’s annual inflation rate to 21.5 percent in September, indicating a 1.1 percentage point increase in inflation compared with 20.4 percent the previous month.
“The rise in inflation in September reversed the consistent drop in inflation rate over the five-month period from April to August,” said Samuel Kobinna Annim, the government statistician at the GSS, during the regular monthly briefing.
The faster rate of inflation in September was due to higher food inflation for the month under review, added Annim.
Compared to August, food inflation climbed 3.0 percentage points to 22.1 percent in September, while non-food inflation declined 0.6 percentage points to 20.9 percent.
Meanwhile, inflation for locally produced and imported items stood at 23.4 percent and 17. percent, respectively, compared to 22.2 percent and 16.1 percent the previous month, the statistician said.
Last Friday, Sept. 27, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of Ghana’s central bank announced a 200 basis-point cut in the benchmark policy rate to 27 percent after lowering it to 29 percent in January, as inflation eased five straight months since April.
Ghana has a year-end inflation target range of between 13 percent and 17 percent
Bank of Ghana Governor Ernest Addison, who announced the decision at a press briefing after the MPC meeting, explained that the country’s economic fundamentals had started responding to ongoing reforms supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Addison observed that headline inflation had eased cumulatively by 5.4 percentage points since April.
“These trends suggest that the disinflation process is on course. The latest forecasts show that inflation will continue to ease towards the annual target range of 13 percent and 17 percent for the year,” Addison added.
The government of Ghana secured a loan of 3 billion dollars from the IMF in May 2023 to implement reforms aimed at saving the economy, which was reeling under ballooning debts, exchange rate depreciation, and surging inflation.
Source: Justice Lee Adoboe