Ghana’s inflation rate slips to 16% in December

Ghana’s inflation rate dropped to 16% in December 2009, the sixth consecutive time that it has fallen.

The rate for November was 16.9% from 18.04% in October 2009.

Inflation has been relatively high in 2009, averaging 19.86% compared to 16.52% in 2008, but it has been falling since the Ghana cedi made gains against major trading currencies of the world.

The country’s year-on-year annual inflation rate rose marginally to 20.56% in April last year, up from its five-year high of 20.53% a month earlier, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said.

The governor of the Bank of Ghana, Mr. Kwesi Amissah-Arthur was reported by the Bloomberg news to have said that inflation is likely to continue slowing over the next few months, paving the way for more interest rate cuts.

But Sampson Akligoh, a research analyst at the Databank Financial Services told the Bloomberg that inflation is unlikely to decline throughout the year.

”Inflationary pressures will reemerge in 2010 mainly on anticipated upward electricity price adjustments, domestic petroleum price increases, wage demand prices, and fiscal expansion,” Akligoh said in e-mailed comments to the Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, in the 2010 budget statement, the Ministry of Finance predicted that the inflation rate will average 10.5% in 2010, falling to 9.2% by the end of the year.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi