Ghanaian inflation accelerated slightly as service price-growth picked up pace, hardening expectations the central bank will keep interest rates on hold.
Consumer prices rose 5.2% at an annual rate in September compared with 5% the month before, Government Statistician Alhassan Iddrisu told reporters in Accra, the capital, on Wednesday. The median expectation of three economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for 5.5%. Prices rose 1.1% in the month.
The Bank of Ghana has held interest rates at 14% since March, citing elevated risks to price pressures stemming from the Middle East conflict. That halted an aggressive easing cycle that brought them down from a 28% peak the year before.
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“Inflation has almost halved over the year, but the direction over the last two months is upward,” he said. “Today, inflation is mainly driven by services and by home-grown items.”
Food inflation picked up to 4% in September from 3% in the prior month. Non-food inflation slowed to 6.2% compared with 6.8% in August. Service price inflation was 8.3% compared with 8.6% in August., but on a monthly basis it doubled to 0.8% from 0.4% the month before.