IMF revises Ghana’s average inflation forecast to 45.4% in 2023

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The International Monetary Fund has revised its average inflation forecast for Ghana in 2023 to 45.4%.

This is in line with the high prices of foodstuffs and other commodities such as crude oil on the world market.

According to the Fund’s April 2023 World Economic Outlook Report, inflation in Ghana will however end the year at 29.4%.

But in 2024, inflation will average 22.2% and end the year at 15.0%.

The report further said global headline inflation has been declining since mid-2022 at a three-month seasonally adjusted annualized rate.

“Global headline inflation has been declining since mid-2022 at a three-month seasonally adjusted annualized rate. A fall in fuel and energy commodity prices, particularly for the United States, euro area, and Latin America, has contributed to this decline”.

To dampen demand and reduce underlying core inflation, the Fund pointed out that central banks around the world have been raising interest rates since 2021, both at a faster pace and in a more synchronous manner.

The Fund added inflation excluding volatile food and energy prices has been declining at a three-month rate—although at a slower pace than headline inflation—in most (though not all) major economies since mid-2022.  Even so, both headline and core inflation rates remain at about double their pre-2021 levels.

Inflation stayed above 50% in Ghana in 2022.