Ghanaians have been lamenting as
rising food prices and cost of living pushed Ghana’s inflation rate to an all time high at 19.4% in the month of March, 2022, the highest rate it had recorded since August 2009.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) which raised an alarm on Wednesday, said the cost of basic foodstuffs such as oil and fats have risen by 28.2%, water by 27.1%, cereal products, 25.0%, Vegetables, 23.8%, Fish and other Seafood, 23.7%, fruits and nuts 22.1%, soft frinks, 20.5%, while meat with a 20.2% increase, recorded high inflation rates than the national average.
According to the figures, food inflation recorded a rate of 22.4% in March 2022, compared to 17.4% in February 2022, while non-food inflation recorded a rate of 17.0% in March 2021, from 14.5% recorded in February 2022.
“The transport sector, including fuel, recorded the highest inflation rate of 27.6%, followed by housing with an inflation rate of 21.4%.
“Month-on-month inflation between February 2022 and March 2022 was 4.0% while on a month-on-month basis, food inflation exceeded non-food inflation by 0.8 percentage points,” the GSS said.
What the rising inflation means for the West African country’s economy is that interest rates will continue to surge, while cost of credit will also go up.
In attempts to control the raging price rise, the Ghanaian Central Bank last month, decided to raise interest rates, a move analysts condemned and said would threaten one of West Africa’s largest economies, ultimately leading the country into an economic crisis.
The government had also announced a reduction of salaries of political appointees by between 20% and 30%, all in a bid to check the rampaging inflation rate to no avail.