Ghana’s inflation climbs to 21.5 pct in September

Accra: Ghana's annual inflation rate rose to 21.5 percent in September from 20.4 percent in August, Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said Wednesday. "The rise in inflation in September reversed the consistent drop in inflation rate over the five-month period from April to August," Samuel Kobinna Annim, the government statistician at the GSS, said during a monthly briefing. Annim noted that the increase was due to higher food inflation in September. Compared to August, food inflation climbed 3.0 percentage points to 22.1 percent in September, while non-food inflation declined by 0.6 percentage points to 20.9 percent. Last week, Ghana's central bank announced a 200 basis-point cut in the benchmark policy rate to 27 percent, down from 29 percent in January, as inflation eased for five straight months since April. Bank of Ghana Governor Ernest Addison explained that the country's economic fundamentals have started responding to ongoing reforms supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with the headl ine inflation declining cumulatively by 5.4 percentage points since April. In May 2023, the Ghanaian government secured a loan of 3 billion U.S. dollars from the IMF to revive its economy, which was struggling with ballooning debts, exchange rate depreciation, and surging inflation. Source: The Namibia News Agency