The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) on Monday announced a drop in the country’s annual inflation rate to 23.5 percent in January, 0.3 percentage points lower than the 23.8 percent recorded a month earlier.
“The relatively slower rate of inflation in January was due to declining non-food inflation, coupled with the base-drift effect,” Samuel Annim, the government statistician at the GSS, said during a regular monthly briefing.
Compared to December, non-food inflation declined 1.1 percentage points to 19.2 in January, while food inflation increased 0.5 percentage points to 28.3, Annim added.
Meanwhile, inflation for locally produced and imported items stood at 25.7 percent and 18.4 percent, respectively, compared to 26.4 percent and 17.9 percent the previous month, the statistician said.
Ghana has been implementing economic reforms since May 2023 to combat a crippling economic crisis with its attendant high inflation in recent years, ballooning public debt, and a constantly depreciating local currency.
On Jan. 27, Ghana’s central bank maintained its benchmark policy rate at 27 percent, pledging a vigilant monetary policy against high inflation.
