Ghana’s inflation hits 40.4%, highest rate in 20 years

The national consumer price inflation (CPI) for the country reached a startling 40.4 percent rate in October 2022, the Ghana Statistical Service has said.

The new rate which is compared to 37.2 percent recorded in September makes is the highest in about 20 year.

Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, speaking with journalists on November 9 said the increase can largely be linked to rising food prices over the past months.

The price of food reached 43.7 percent inflation in October from 37.8 percent recorded in September this year while non-food inflation rose to 37.8 percent from 36.8 percent.

The Month-on-Month inflation according to the GSS rose up to 2.7 percent in October from 2.0 percent in September this year.

For imported items into the country, the GSS said the country recorded 43.7 percent, while inflation for locally produced items stood at 39.1 percent.

Prof. Annim further said other factors which contributed to Year-on-Year inflation of about 69.6 percent were; Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other fuels.

Meanwhile, the recent inflation figures are expected to further impose more hardships on the average Ghanaian who has been grappling with the rising cost of living in the country.

The depreciation of the local currency by about 57 percent since January 2022 to date also paints a rather gloomy picture of Ghana’s economic situation.

The cedi has since been ranked by Bloomberg as the worst-performing currency in the world among 148 currencies it tracked in a survey.

MA/FNOQ

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