High housing, electricity costs, others push Ghana’s inflation to 54.1%

Ghana’s inflation rate rose to a new 22-year high of 54.1 per cent in December 2022, up from 50.3 per cent in November, Samuel Kobina Annim, the government statistician for Ghana, announced this at a media briefing on Wednesday.

The latest inflation rate is the highest since April 2001, when it was at 59.7 per cent.

Ghana’s statistics office attributed the hike to steep increases in housing, food, transport and electricity costs.

It said prices rose the most in the category of housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels, increasing to 82.34 per cent year-on-year.

Furnishings and household equipment came second at 71.52 per cent, followed by transport at 71.42 per cent, then personal care, social protection, and miscellaneous goods and services at 60.94 per cent.

The agency said inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose to 59.71 per cent year-on-year.

It added that inflation for locally produced items was 51.1 percent, while that of imported items stood at 61.9 percent.

Since last year, the West African country has been battling an economic crisis.

In July, it approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial help after soaring prices and other economic woes led to street protests.

An agreement with the IMF for a $3 billion three-year support package was secured in December.

One of the grounds on which Ghana got the IMF facility is a “comprehensive debt restructuring”.

As part of efforts to restore public debt sustainability, the Ghanaian government, on December 5 launched a domestic debt exchange programme.

The government also suspended debt service payments on eurobonds and commercial term loans.