GHANA INFLATION QUICKENS IN JULY AS WATER AND POWER PRICES RISE

Ghana’s inflation rate rose in July as utility tariffs increased.Annual inflation quickened to 9.4% from 9.1% in June, Deputy Government Statistician David Kombat told reporters Wednesday in the capital, Accra. Prices rose 0.6% in the month.

Key Insights:

• Despite the pick-up, inflation remains inside the Bank of Ghana’s target band of 6% to 10% and there may still be room to loosen policy further in the second half of the year. The central bank left its key interest rate at 16% last month even as Governor Ernest Addison cited a downward trend in underlying inflation and downside risks to the economic growth outlook due to weak business sentiment.
• Power tariffs rose by 11.2% last month and water prices by 8%.
• The statistics office still uses the old base year of 2012 and once it starts using the 2017 base for the index, that could change the inflation number.

Bloomberg L.P.