Inflation Rate Stays at 8.4% for Third Consecutive Month

Oct. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Ghana’s inflation rate was unchanged for a third consecutive month in September, adding to expectations the central bank may keep interest rates on hold.

The inflation rate stayed at 8.4 percent, Grace Bediako, a statistician at the Ghana Statistical Service, told reporters in the capital, Accra, today.

“Apart from the weakening of the currency against the dollar, all other economic pointers largely behaved well,” Nii Ampa-Sowa, head of research at Accra-based Databank Financial Services Ltd., said before today’s data.

The central bank may leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 12.5 percent for a second consecutive meeting on Oct. 19, Ampa-Sowa said. The Bank of Ghana cut the key rate twice this year as inflation eased, holding it steady on Sept. 1 as rising electricity and water costs threatened to boost inflation. The cedi slumped 4.7 percent against the dollar in September, extending its decline this year to 8.4 percent, adding to price pressures.

Inflation has eased since reaching a five-year high of 20.7 percent in June 2009. A 30 percent increase in petroleum costs pushed the inflation rate to 9.2 percent in February from 9.1 percent a month earlier.