Ghana’s inflation rate inched up by 0.3 percentage points to 23.5 percent in January compared with 23.2 percent in December, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said Wednesday.
Samuel Kobina Annin, the government statistician at the GSS, said at a press briefing that the increase in the inflation rate for January was due to higher non-food inflation, which ended the five-month run of declining inflation from 43.1 percent in August to 23.2 percent in December.
“Compared to December, non-food inflation increased by 1.8 percentage points to 20.5 percent in January, while food inflation declined by 1.6 percentage points to 27.1 percent,” he noted.
Meanwhile, inflation for locally produced and imported items stood at 24.2 percent and 22 percent, respectively, added Annim.
The Bank of Ghana announced a 100 basis-point cut in the benchmark policy rate to 29 percent, down from 30 percent in late January, as inflation declined sharply by more than 30 percentage points in 2023.
The decision by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank was due to subdued inflationary pressures and the need to induce economic growth, said Ernest Addison, governor of the Bank of Ghana, at a press briefing.