We still have a long way to go since Ghana’s inflation rate is 45% – Bokpin

A finance lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Professor Godfred Bokpin, says Ghana’s 45.0% inflation is still high and that the country is not out of the woods.

According to him, Ghana’s current inflation rate compared to world standards is still high.

Inflation dropped significantly to 45.0 percent for the month of March 2023. This represents a 7.8 percentage point decrease over the 52.8 percent recorded in February 2023.

This was captured in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) on Wednesday, April 12. Per the data, food inflation also stood at 50.8% and Non-food inflation at 40.6%.

Professor Bokpin speaking on the Point Blank segment on the Eyewitness News with Umaru Sanda Amadu, stated, “Prices are increasing but at a decreasing rate as it was a month ago. Things are not looking good but the comfort this gives is that once the rate at which prices are increasing is slowing, it is good because it preserves value. But inflation at 45.0% by the world standard, the regional average and Sub-saharan average, Ghana’s own is still very high. 45.0% is still very high. We are not out of the woods yet”.

He said there will be some level of price stability if inflation continues to drop.

“If this is to continue, then we will say that the process of disinflation has set in, and therefore we can look forward to maybe some level of price stability,” he noted.

The finance lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School expressed hope that the exchange rate coupled with fuel prices will be stabilised to give way to a much bigger inflation drop in the subsequent months.

“Let’s hope that the stability we are seeing in the exchange rate, fuel prices and the rest will continue. Let’s hope that the supply side constraints will be addressed so that when the harvest season comes, the gap between where our mouth is in Accra and where the farmlands in the villages can be close probably through proper transportation mechanism,” Professor Bokpin stated.