Ghana inflation slows to 9%

Ghana’s inflation rate dropped to a record low in January, giving the central bank more room to continue loosening policy.

Consumer prices increased 9 percent from a year earlier, compared with 9.4 percent in December, David Kombat, the acting government statistician at the Ghana Statistical Service, told reporters Wednesday in the capital, Accra. Prices rose 1 percent in the month.

At the lowest since at least January 2013, the drop in inflation could give the central bank room to cut borrowing costs further after last month’s reduction. Monetary Policy Committee member Philip Abradu-Otoo said last week the regulator could cut again as early as March if price growth continues to slow.

The central bank targets inflation in a range of 6 percent to 10 percent and Governor Ernest Addison has said it may be time to aim even lower.

The statistics office still uses the old base year of 2012 and once it starts using the 2017 base for the index, that could change the inflation number.