Inflation rate projected to end 2022 at 16.3%
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), has cast doubt about the country hitting its 8% inflation rate target this year.
In the IMF’s latest economic outlook report for Ghana, it has projected that the country will the end the year with a 16.3% inflation rate, far higher than the government’s projected 8%.
This will mean the second time in two years that government is missing out on its end of the year inflation rate target.
The projection by the IMF back claims that the current price hikes on food stuffs on the market would not be ending anytime soon.
Some analyst have also projected that inflation rate will only start falling in the last quarter of this year.
Inflation rate for March 2022, currently stands at 19.4%, with a probability that the country may continue to witness some spikes in terms of the general price levels going up before reducing marginally in the last three months of this year.
This projection could be in line with a similar report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which is noting that government will not meet its inflation rate target for this year.
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) has forecasted that, headline inflation rate for Ghana will remain high, averaging about 15% in the early part of 2022.
The high inflation rate according to the EIU, is expected to be driven by supply-side price pressures, including rising global oil and food prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war and high utility and transport costs.
According to its April 13, 2022, assessment of the Ghanaian economy, average inflation is said to rise from 10% in 2021 to 13.4% in 2022 as prices for global commodities continue to increase, domestic demand starts to pick up further, and the currency depreciates sharply.
Inflation is forecast to average 8.8% between 2023-2026.
