In December 2022, Ghana’s inflation rate reached a record 54.1% due to rising costs for food, housing, and transportation. Government statistician Samuel Kobina Annim told reporters in Accra, the nation’s capital, that the inflation rate as of November 2022 was 50.3%.
Bloomberg claims that among 120 countries, including the eurozone, the 54.1% inflation rate was the seventh-highest in the world. Since September 2021, the inflation rate has now exceeded the 10% cap of the nation’s central bank’s target range.
With the new rate, import inflation was 61.9%, food prices increased by 59.7%, and transportation expenses rose by 71.4%. Before the date was announced, the official currency of the nation, the cedi, lost as much as 6.1% against the dollar.
Reacting to the rate, an economist at Accra-based GCB Capital Ltd, Courage Boti, said, “I think the peak of inflation is near, the policy rate will be held given the outlook for a slowing inflation rate.
“Economic growth is already depressed and fourth quarter GDP promises to be even lower — as a result the central bank may become more inclined to supporting growth and being more accommodative as inflation is seen moving in the right direction.”