Ghana’s inflation rate has continued its downward trend in August 2024, dropping to 20.4% from 20.9% in July. This marks the sixth consecutive month of decline since it peaked at 25.8% in March.
At a news conference today in Accra, Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim attributed this reduction to a fall in food inflation. Food inflation decreased to 19.1% in August, while non-food inflation rose slightly to 21.5%.
He attributed the slowdown to falling prices in key food categories such as milk, oils, fats, and fruits and nuts.
Explaining further, he said, “From a regional perspective, the Upper East region recorded the highest overall rate of inflation of 27.8%. The Northeast region recorded the lowest rate of inflation of 10.1%.”
A significant highlight of the report was the month-on-month food inflation, which dropped to -0.7% in August, signaling a decrease in general price levels between July and August 2024.
“On a month-on-month basis, we have recorded a much more significant drop in month-on-month food inflation, dropping to negative 0.7% for the month of August 2024. This means that between July and August 2024, the general price levels of goods and services went down by 0.7%, he reiterated.”
Despite this, Prof. Annim noted that prices continue to rise year on year, urging efforts to maintain the downward trend. Although this is a positive trend, inflation remains higher than the central bank’s medium-term target of eight percent, with an allowable margin of two percentage points on either side.
Prof. Annim further highlighted the disparity between inflation on locally produced and imported goods, noting a 6.1 percentage point difference. While inflation for locally produced goods decreased from 23.3% to 22.2%, imported goods slightly increased from 15.6% to 16.1%.
According to Prof. Annim, this is a positive sign for the economy, suggesting a slowdown in price increases. However, he cautioned that prices are still rising, and efforts should be made to sustain the downward trend.
