"Inflation: High exposure to imports to contribute to rise in cost of living \u2013 Analysts"

" \n Inflation: High exposure to imports to contribute to rise in cost of living \u2013 Analysts \n \n\n \n Economic analysts with the SIC, have said the outlook of the country\u2019s headline inflation remains negative as it expects inflation rate to remain high in the near term. \n \n\n \n According to the analysts, inflation will remain high in the face of spiking global food, crude\u00a0 oil prices and continuing investor concern over the\u00a0 country\u2019s large fiscal deficits putting downward\u00a0 pressure on the cedi. \n \n\n \n \u201cHence, Ghana having high\u00a0exposure to importation will suffer huge rise in the\u00a0 cost of living,\u201d it added. \n \n\n \n Regarding the monetary policy rate of the Central Bank, the analysts assert, they expect rising inflation to prompt BoG to further hike the monetary policy rate. \n \n\n \n \u201cThe Central Bank further tightening of the\u00a0 policy rate is believed to be one of the conditions\u00a0required for the country to reach a deal with the\u00a0 International Monetary Fund (IMF),\u201d they posited. \n \n\n \n The year-on-year inflation rate climbed further to 33.9% in\u00a0 August from 31.7% in July, reaching its highest level since\u00a0 August 2001, representing a month-on-month inflation\u00a0 increase of 1.9%. \n \n\n \n The rate was mainly driven by Housing,\u00a0 Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels which saw a 46.7%\u00a0rise in inflation compared to 43.0% in July followed by\u00a0Transport (45.7%); Furnishings, Household Equipment and\u00a0 Routine Household Maintenance (44.7%) and Recreation,\u00a0 Sport and Culture (36.4%).\u00a0 \n \n\n \n Food inflation increased to 34.4% which is up from July\u2019s\u00a0 food inflation of 32.3%. Non-food inflation stood at 33.6%,\u00a0 compared to 31.3% recorded the previous month. Overall\u00a0 month-on-month food inflation was 1.8%. \n \n\n \n Inflation for\u00a0 imported goods was 35.2% while inflation for local goods\u00a0 was 33.4%. For five (5) months running, inflation for\u00a0 imported items exceeded domestic inflation.\u00a0 \n \n\n \n At the regional level, the Eastern Region recorded the highest inflation rate of 41.0%% while the Upper East Region recorded the lowest inflation rate of 22.8%. \n \n\n \n Just weeks after the Bank of Ghana (BoG) hiking lending\u00a0 rate in the country's history, inflation rate at 33.9% marks\u00a0 -\u00a0the 12th consecutive month that the rate has exceeded the\u00a0 top of the central bank\u2019s target band of 8+\/-2%. \n \n\n \n This implies\u00a0 that the purchasing powers of Ghanaians have been\u00a0 further eroded, despite measures by the central bank to\u00a0 tame the uptick. \n "

"Inflation: High exposure to imports to contribute to rise in cost of living \u2013 Analysts"

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