Claim: The Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu in the Savanna Region, John Abdulai Jinapor, has said that Ghana’s inflation rate has surpassed 30%.
False. According to the most recent data from the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Statistical Service released on June 8, 2022, the current inflation rate stands at 27.6%.
Full Text
The Member of Parliament for Yapei Kusawgu in the Savanna Region, John Abdulai Jinapor, has said that Ghana’s inflation rate has exceeded 30%. He said this in relation to a discussion on the economy and the government’s decision to go to the International Monetary Fund. The claim was made on Metro TV’s “Good Morning Ghana” hosted by Dr. Randy Abbey. The video, which was posted on YouTube on Tuesday, July 5, 2022, has amassed over 2,000 views. The claim was made from 1hour:18minutes:33 secs-1 hour:19minutes:22secs time frame of the video.
According to the MP, “Even when the NPP assumed office, they made it look as if once you go to the IMF, it is the mark of incompetence. Even after Covid and the Ukrainian war. As early as last week, even their Deputy Minister was insisting that so far as they remain in power, they will never go for an IMF program.
Indeed, the e-levy was an option, choose e-levy or go to IMF. That’s what they told us. Eventually, they got the e-levy passed and low and behold, things got so worse and so bad to the extent that our debt to GDP moved from 56.1% to 80.1%. That’s the situation. Inflation today is more than 30%”.
Verification
Inflation is defined as the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time. It can occur when prices rise due to increases in production costs, such as raw materials and wages.
To verify the claim made by the Member of Parliament, DUBAWA resorted to data from the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). We decided to use these institutions because they are statutory institutions mandated to provide Ghana’s economic and social data.
The Ghana Statistical Service gives monthly updates on the rate of inflation in the country. On page 3 of its most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, the current inflation rate is 27.6%. According to Bloomberg, the 27.6% rate is the highest level in more than 18 years.
Also, according to the Bank of Ghana, the current inflation rate is 27.6%, as cited in the data of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
The data from the Bank of Ghana and the Ghana Statistical Service is further corroborated by Trading Economics, an agency that provides data on economic indicators and financial markets. Its most recent data also pegs Ghana current inflation at 27.6%.
Source: Trading Economics
Moreover, even though data on inflation rates for June 2022 has not been released yet by the Ghana Statistical Service to determine if the rate has surged past 30%, projections from the Trading Economics global macro models and analysts indicate that Ghana’s inflation rate is expected to surge in the coming months. It has, however, forecasted the rates to be 29% by the end of the second quarter in 2022.
Conclusion
Even though there has been a continuous surge in inflation rates in the past months, Data available show that inflation has not surpassed 30%; it is currently 27.6%.