Ghana consumer inflation slows to lowest level since 2021

ACCRA (Reuters) -Ghana's consumer inflation slowed for the sixth month in a row in June to 13.7% year-on-year, its lowest level since December 2021, the statistics service said on Wednesday.

Government statistician Alhassan Iddrisu told a news conference that the underlying causes of inflation were cooling, and the downward shift over the last six months showed a sustained slowdown in prices.

"The disinflation process we are observing means some breathing room for households, a more predictable environment for businesses, and for policymakers, a powerful signal that recent fiscal and monetary efforts may be taking hold," he said.

He urged policymakers to stay the course.

Food inflation dropped to 16.3% from 22.8% in May.

"Given how heavily food prices weigh on the average Ghanaian in terms of households' budget, this single trend can have a meaningful impact on people's lived experiences," Iddrisu said.

Ghana's central bank held its main interest rate at 28.00% in May. The bank expected to announce its next monetary policy decision later this month.

The gold- and cocoa-producing West African nation is emerging from its most severe economic crisis in a generation. Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson said in his March budgetspeech that sharp spending cuts would help bring inflation down to 11.9% by year-end.

(Reporting by Christian Akorlie and Emmanuel Bruce. Writing by Ayen Deng Bior. Editing by Bate Felix and Mark Potter)

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