Inflation uptick, other economic factors forces BoG to hold emergency MPC meeting on Wednesday
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has announced ab emergency meeting scheduled for Wednesday, August 17, 2022.
Per a statement issued by the Central Bank, the emergency MPC meeting is to review recent developments in the Ghanaian economy.
The move by the Committee, is believed to be mainly the result of the continuous increments in the country’s headline inflation, given that the use of monetary policy tools such as hikes in the Central Bank’s prime rate has failed to curtail increments inflation and revert it to the Bank’s medium target band.
Other pertinent issues such as the depreciation of the cedi as well as measures to check the country’s declining foreign reserves will also feature in the Committee’s discussions and review of the economy.
Inflation at the end of the month of July rose to a record 31.7%.
This is some 1.9 percentage points higher than the recorded 29.8% in June 2022.
Government Statistician, Prof Samuel Kobina Annim, said the inflation rate for July was mainly driven by transport and utilities.
According to the GSS, the rise in inflation was due to increments in Transport (44.6%); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels (43.0%); Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (42.0%); Recreation, Sport and Culture (33.8%); Personal Care, Social Protection and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (33.7%) and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (32.3%).
Food inflation went up to 32.3% in July 2022, from 30.7% in June 2022.
Again, non-food inflation also shot up to 31.3% in July 2022, from 29.1% the previous month.
Similarly, inflation for locally produced items was 30.9%, whereas inflation for imported items was 33.9%.
The Committee is expected to announce its decisions to the public at the end of the emergency meeting.
Given the recent upward trend in the country’s headline inflation, the MPC probably might be forced to increase the policy rate from the current 19% to 20% or more as a means to check inflation.
Read details of statement below:
Notice of Emergency Mpc Meeting 15 08 2022 by Fuaad Dodoo on Scribd
