ACCRA, April 2 (Reuters) - Ghana's annual consumer inflation slowed for a third straight month to 22.4% in March from 23.1% the previous month, as food price pressures eased, the statistics agency said on Wednesday.
The easing of inflationary pressures is likely to be welcomed by Ghana's central bank, which last week surprised the market with a 100-basis-point interest rate hike to 28%, saying a tight monetary policy stance was needed to lower inflation.
"The rate of 22.4% is the lowest in the last four months," government statistician Samuel Kobina Annim told a press conference.
"In the month of March 2025, we recorded a much sharper decline in food inflation and a marginal decline in non-food inflation."
Ghana's central bank governor Johnson Asiama has warned that consumer inflation in the gold, oil and cocoa-producing West African nation remains "uncomfortably high" and above its target of 8% with a margin of error of 2 percentage points either side.
Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson said during his budget speech in March that steep spending cuts would allow Ghana to drive down inflation to 11.9% by the end of the year.
Reporting by Christian Akorlie and Emmanuel Bruce Editing by Bate Felix and Joe Bavier
Source: Reuters