The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has announced a decrease in the inflation rate from 23.5% in January to 23.2% in February.
This represents a 0.3 percentage point decline from January’s figure.
At a media briefing today, Prof. Samuel Kobina Anim, the Government Statistician highlighted that, the year-on-year inflation indicates a 23.2% increase in the prices of goods and services.
In an interview with RGGNEWS, Martin Ohene Anim, an economist, said the drop in inflation is due to the government’s utilization of monetary policies established by the central bank, aimed at combating inflation and stabilizing prices.
However, he said the decrease in inflation from January to February does not signify a reduction in the prices of goods and services, but rather an increase at a lower rate than in January.
The economist emphasized that consumers are feeling the impact as they now require more money to purchase the same quantity of goods and services, indicating a deterioration in economic welfare.
From the Consumer Price Index data released by the GSS, food and non-food inflation stood at 27.0% and 20.0% respectively.
Mr. Anim attributed this to higher industrial production compared to domestic or agricultural production, urging the government to focus on increasing production to alleviate food inflation.
He said over the past year, the economic conditions of citizens have worsened, with prices of goods and services increasing by 23.2% while income levels have not risen accordingly.
He then called on the government to implement prudent fiscal and monetary policies, reduce taxes for consumers, and support the private sector to address these challenges effectively.