Data from the Ghana Statistical Service shows that national inflation has risen for the 7th consecutive time hitting 12.6% in December 2021.
With this being the highest figure recorded in more than two years, it highlights the problem the government and the central bank are faced with in trying to balance efforts to curb price growth and boost the economy.
This development comes as no shock to some stakeholders, with some even predicting higher inflation rates in the coming months.
Economist, Dr. Patrick Asuming, believes that the country is not yet out of the woods. He is of the opinion that the inflation situation would even worsen if the benchmark value reversal policy is implemented.
“The cedi came under a little bit of pressure in the last quarter of last year. The cedi has been doing well for almost 18 months to two years but it appears it has come under a little pressure. But it’s likely that it’ll get worse before it gets better,” he explained to Citi Business News.
“If we actually go ahead and withdraw benchmark value discount, we might see some prices going up further. So it appears that we’re going to stay with high inflation for probably throughout the first quarter of this year. It might take a while before we bring inflation back under control.”
The new inflation figure of 12.6% is the highest recorded since the Ghana Statistical Service rebased the Consumer Price Index in August 2019.
This exceeds the Finance Ministry’s forecast of 8+/-2% for 2021.
According to the Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, the jump in inflation rate to 12.6% in the last month of 2021 can be attributed to higher costs of housing, water, electricity and gas as well as an overall increase in the contribution of food inflation to national inflation.
Food inflation slowed to 12.8% from 13.1% in November, while non-food price growth accelerated to 12.5% from 11.6%.
On a regional level, the Upper West region, shockingly recorded the highest year-on-year inflation to see an 18.6% increase in the price of goods and services, while Eastern Region recorded the lowest with 7.4%.