October inflation rises to 40.4% as food inflation hits 43.7%

The year-on-year inflation rate rose to 40.4 per cent in October from 37.2 per cent in September.

It is the highest reading since July of 2001 and well above the top of the central bank’s target band of 6% to 10%, amid a rapid depreciation of the cedi during the month.

The recent slide in the domestic currency has been driven by uncertainty over Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s future, after the opposition filed a motion in parliament to dismiss him because of the deepening economic crisis.

The month-on-month inflation rate also rose to 2.7 per cent in October from 2 per cent in September.

Professor  Samuel Kobina Annim, the Government Statistician, said the Consumer Price Inflation for October 2022 based on the new series was 144.4 relative to 102.9 for October 2021 using the linked series.

He said food inflation for October increased to 43.7 per cent from the previous month’s food inflation of 37. 8 per cent with the month-on-month food inflation being 3.2 per cent.

The non-food Inflation rose to 37.8 per cent from 36.8 per cent from the previous month. The month-on-month non-food inflation was 2.3 per cent.

Inflation for locally produced items was 39.1 per cent, while inflation for imported items stood at 43.7 per cent.

The Eastern region recorded the highest regional inflation rate of 51.1 per cent, while the Volta region recorded the lowest regional inflation rate of 25.8 per cent. .

Ghana  has been in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a $3 billion loan bailout aimed to address Ghana’s macroeconomic and structural woes.