New numbers: Ghana inflation. Same same, but differrent
According to data released by the Ghana Statistical Service on Weds (12 May), inflation in April was 8.5% year-on-year, down from 10.3% the previous month. Per usual, there are considerable differences across the country with Accra (12.1%) at one end, and Upper West (2.0%) at the other. Nevertheless, this brings Ghana back into its monetary policy target range of 8% plus/minus 2%. And the Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee is scheduled to meet in ten days time.
They will no doubt be considering the extent to which fiscal measures introduced this month will affect the price level going forwards. See: #FixTheCountry: Ghanaians take to social media to vent building frustrations. Also, the somewhat anomalous nature of recent trends. Between March 2020 and March 2021, monthly headline inflation increase from 7.8% to 10.3%. That’s an increase of almost a third. It is painful – especially in Accra and Ashanti, Ghana’s economic and population centres – but it is not unprecedented. For example, during an earlier inflationary episode between October 2013 and October 2014, inflation went up from 13.1% to 16.9% year-on-year.
What has been different is that currency depreciation does not appear to have been a key driver of inflation this time round.
Currency depreciation during inflationary episodes
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