Ghana’s inflation rate surged to 29.8 percent in June from 27.6 percent in May, the Ghana Statistical Service said Wednesday, July 13, 2022.
The inflation rate in June was the highest in almost 19 years (since December 2003) according to Bloomberg data.
The development means inflation has now exceeded the Bank of Ghana’s target band of 6% to 10% for 10 consecutive months as predicted by analysts.
Slowdown
However, there has been a slowdown in the rate of inflation which saw a decrease for the first time in four months.
The Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim told reporters via Zoom that it was too soon to conclude that inflation is going to drop in the coming months.
He said a downward trend was dependent on the interventions that policymakers would put in place to check the rate of inflation.
It all depends on how we are going to sustain whatever interventions we are putting in place and counter-inflation, so let’s monitor this closely in the coming months,” Prof. Annim said.
Factors
The inflation rate was largely pushed by transport, which saw a 41.6 percent rise in inflation compared to 39.0 percent in May.
Household Equipment and Maintenance also hit 39.6 percent, up from 33.8 percent and Housing, Water, Electricity and Gas hit 38.4 percent, up from 32.3 percent.
Food inflation also increased marginally to 30.7 percent, up from 30.1 percent last month and non-food inflation was 29.1 percent an increase on the 25.7 percent recorded in May.
The inflation for imported goods was 31.3 percent, which is higher than the 28.2 percent recorded for May 2022 – while the inflation for locally produced items was 29.2 percent, up from the 27.3 percent recorded in May 2022.