International Monetary Fund Foresees Slower Inflation Growth in Coming Years
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted a decline in inflation for Ghana, projecting a 15% end-of-year inflation rate for 2024.
The forecast also includes an 8.0% end-of-year inflation for the subsequent years, 2025, 2026, and 2027. This indicates a slowdown in the increasing prices of goods and services over the next three years.
The IMF's revelation was outlined in its latest document titled “Ghana: Selected Economic and Financial Indicators, 2022–28.”
The report comes as a positive indicator of the country's economic stability, showing a significant improvement in year-on-year inflation. In 2023, the inflation rate dropped by 30.4 percentage points to 23.2% in December, compared to 53.6% in January of the same year.
The decline in inflation was driven by improvements in both food and non-food inflation rates. Food inflation decreased from 32.2% in November 2023 to 28.7% in December 2023, while non-food inflation dropped to 18.7% from 21.7% during the same period.
The IMF report further breaks down inflation rates for locally produced and imported items, with locally produced items standing at 23.8% in December 2023, and imported items at 21.9%.
Despite the overall improvement, six divisions recorded inflation rates higher than the national average.
These divisions include Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco, and Narcotics (38.2%); Personal Care, Social Protection, and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (31.1%); Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (28.7%); Restaurants and Accommodation Services (28.0%); Furnishings, Household Equipment, and Routine Household Maintenance (26.9%); and Recreation, Sports, and Culture (24.9%).