The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecasted a 15% year-end inflation rate for 2024, signaling potential economic dynamics and challenges ahead.

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The IMF is extending its forecast, foreseeing an 8.0% year-end inflation rate not only for 2025 but also for the subsequent years 2026 and 2027. This outlook shapes expectations for the medium-term economic landscape, guiding attention to potential trends and considerations.

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This implies a deceleration in the upward trajectory of prices for goods and services, with a notable slowdown expected in the current year and a more significant reduction anticipated over the next three years.

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The revelation was captured in the Fund’s latest document dubbed “Ghana: Selected Economic and Financial Indicators, 2022–28”.

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Year-on-year inflation fell significantly by 30.4 percentage points in 2023 to 23.2% in December 2023. In January 2023, Ghana’s inflation rate stood at 53.6%.

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According to the figures from the Ghana Statistical Service, food inflation drove down the overall inflation with a rate of 28.7% in December 2023, compared with 32.2% in November 2023. The non-food inflation also went down to 18.7% in December 2023 from 21.7% in November 2023.

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Inflation for locally produced items stood at 23.8% in December 2023, whilst inflation for imported items was 21.9%.

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Six divisions recorded inflation rates higher than the national average.

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They were Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics (38.2%); Personal Care, Social Protection and Miscellaneous Goods and Services (31.1%); Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (28.7%); Restaurants and Accommodation Services (28.0%); Furnishings, Household Equipment and Routine Household Maintenance (26.9%) and Recreation, Sports and Culture (24.9%).

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