Year in Review: Why January was the most expensive month in 2023

Almost everyone likes December because of the enjoyment the yuletide brings but 'hate' January. Your guess is as good as mine!

Many people feel January is the longest month because they have spent their monies on vacations, 'detty' December, concerts, drinks, food, among others.

Apart from going through all this financial stress, the local economy also had its own downturns that affected the general living of Ghanaians.

GhanaWeb Business in this article takes a look at why January was the most expensive month in 2023.

Inflation

There was a spike in the country's inflation at the start of 2023. The inflation rate for January 2023 stood at 53.6%. This was made known by the government statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim at a press briefing.

The high inflation led to an increment in food prices and cost of living shot up as well.

Cedi Depreciation

High inflation led to the depreciation of the local currency - Cedi - against major trading currencies. The weakening of the Cedi affected the trading community which subsequently affected consumers as there was an increment in the prices of goods and services.

Per publication available on the Bank of Ghana website, the Cedi cumulatively depreciated by 19.1 percent, 21.4 percent, and 20.7 percent against the US dollar, the Pound, and Euro, respectively in January 2023.

Hoarding of goods

The depreciation of the Cedi also led to the hoarding of goods because it became costly for most members of the business community to ship goods into the country to sell.

The few they had in stock were sold at high and outrageous prices because of the high demand for the goods.

IMF embargos

There was some sort of embargo on Ghana due to the US$ 3 billion bailout programme from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The financial assistance came with its own conditionalities that had a toll on the investments and finances of both individuals and the trading community.

All the aforementioned contributed to January being the most expensive month in 2023 because both individuals and the business community needed to navigate their way through the month and survive.

SA/OGB

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