High food inflation could have been worse – Seth Terkper

Minister of Finance during the Mahama administration, Seth Terkper has revealed that the current sky-high food prices on the market could have been worse but for the rains.

Speaking on Morning Starr with Francis Abban, Terkpr said the conducive climate the country experienced had mitigated the devastating impact on the food supply.

“The current situation you’re talking about could have been worse if the rains had not been good. Of course, we know that if the rains fail because of heat and all that or drought. Any year the food [supply] has not been good, it has been tough.

“The May season, for instance, it’s always been tough. It’s only that the economy has been robust to support it,” he observed.

Terkper indicated that it was important that food was not looked at in isolation but the other critical factors influencing its price including the cost of fertilizer.

He explained that one way the country could address the rising food prices was to add value to exports. That he said, could be coupled with a strong export support system.

“Exim Bank in our model was to look outward where Cocobod looks outward for farmers, only this time, it is going to look outward for those exporting already but need export finance. Those who are going to be adding value, so you need to get a loan in cedis and you export and then it is aggregated.”

While data from the Ghana Statistical Service show that food inflation is the lowest it has been in 13 months, the glossy numbers are yet to reflect the trying economic times.