Inflation accelerates to 15.7%
Ghana’s consumer price inflation rose to 15.7 per cent year-on-year in February from 13.9 per cent the previous month, the Statistical Service said on Wednesday.
This means that between the month of February 2021 and February 2022, the general price level of goods and services has increased by 15.7%. This compares with the 13.9 Year-on-Year inflation that was recorded in January 2022, indicating a 1.8 percentage variation between the year-on-year inflation in the two months.
Government Statistician, Mr Samuel Kobina Annim told reporters in Accra, that this is the second-highest recorded since the rebasing of the CPI and inflation in August 2019. The highest was recorded during the COVID-19 period between the months of March and April 2020 when the variation was 2.8 percentage points.
Three divisions – Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other fuels, Transport, and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages – recorded inflation rates above the national average of 15.7 per cent.
Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other fuels recorded the largest price increase in February of 25.4 per cent, while Transport was up 18.3% and prices of Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages rose by 17.4% after rising only 13.7% the previous month.
Regional inflation
At the regional level, overall year-on-year inflation ranged from 11.6 per cent in the Western Region to 19.5 per cent in the Greater Accra Region.
The Eastern Region recorded the highest month-on-month inflation of 7.3percent and the Upper East region recorded a negative month-on-month inflation rate in February 2022 (-0.9%).
Time to arrest inflation
Mr Annim said there was the need to need to halt the acceleration of inflation from different perspectives because the drivers varied across the 16 regions of the country with food inflation driving five regions in the north and the southern part being driven by non-food and food prices.
“As a country, we should not address inflation from a one one-size-fits-all perspective. From the global perspective, I don’t think Ghana can isolate itself from what is happening, in terms of the potential impact of especially on fuel and transport as a division of our computation,” Mr Annim said.