Policy failures major contributory factors to high inflation – Prof Gatsi
Dean of the School of Business at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Prof. John Gatsi, has attributed to country’s rising headline inflation rate to policy failures by the Government.
According to Prof Gatsi, the failure and reluctance of Government to review policies such as the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) has resulted in the country grappling with high inflation driven by food inflation.
Speaking during NorvanReports’ and the Economic Governance Platform’s Twitter Space Discussion themed “Navigating Ghana’s inflation Landscape” on Sunday, Prof Gatsi noted that there is the need for Government to coordinate its policies, particularly policies that have to do with the agric sector, in order to reduce high food inflation.
“Government is not reviewing its flagship policies such as Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) and as such the country is suffering from policy failures which is resulting in high inflation.”
“Government needs to coordinate its policies, coordinating policies like 1D1F and PFJ, can help reduce inflation in the country,” he quipped.
Headline inflation witnessed a marginal uptick (60bps) year-on-year, climbing to 43.1% in July 2023 compared to the 42.5% figure registered in June.
Month-on-month inflation between June 2023 and July 2023 was 3.6 percent.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service, Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Inflation which stood at a notable 55.0% played a role in driving the overall inflation figure higher.
Month-on-month food inflation was 3.8% with last month’s food inflation being 54.2%.
On the flip side, Non-Food Inflation maintained its inflation figure of 38.3% during the same period, reflecting a less pronounced but significant inflationary pressure within the sector.
Month-on-month non-food inflation was 3.4% with last month’s non-food inflation being 33.4%.
Ghana has the highest level of food inflation in the West African sub-region.
On the Continent, Ghana is behind Zimbabwe and South Africa in terms of food inflation.
Ghana is also ranked by the World Bank as the eighth country with the highest food inflation globally.
