Ghana’s Inflation drops to 21.2% in April as stronger Cedi brings down prices

Ghana’s inflation rate dropped to 21.2% in April, down from 22.4% in March, marking the fourth month in a row that prices have gone down.

The fall is mainly because the Cedi got stronger, which helped bring down the cost of imported goods. In April, the Ghanaian Cedi moved from 15.49 per dollar to 15.46 per dollar.

Government Statistician, Alhassan Iddrisu said lower import costs led to slower price increases for goods, especially non-food items. Non-food inflation went down to 17.9% in April from 18.7% in March.

The Bank of Ghana raised interest rates to 28% in March to help control inflation. However, in April, the strong Cedi was the main reason inflation fell.

Other African currencies like the Tunisian Dinar, Moroccan Dirham, and Seychellois Rupee also got stronger in April. According to Bloomberg, the Cedi rose by about 16% against the dollar since early April, making it the best-performing currency in the world during that time.

Ghana’s inflation has stayed above 10% since September 2021, mostly because of a debt crisis that weakened the Cedi and made imports more expensive.

The Bank of Ghana expects inflation to fall to about 16% by the end of the year, and to reach the target range of 6% to 10% by mid-2026.

Writer: Princess Debrah Avenyoh