Full Text
An opinion article authored by Razak Kojo Opoku, a member of the ruling New Patriotic Party, has been widely published across media platforms in the country.
The article’s headline is “37.2% inflation is unsatisfactory but better than NDC’s 122% inflation,” and the publication can be found here, here, here, and here.
In the article, Opoku suggested that Ghana’s 37.2% inflation rate for September was not the country’s worst in its history.
According to him, under its leadership, the opposition National Democratic Congress has led Ghana to record higher inflation rates.
He overviewed the inflation situation in other countries such as Turkey, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom.
“The inflation rate of the United States of America has jumped to an unprecedented record of 14.5% with the UK experiencing its 40-year high inflation rate of 9.9%,” part of the article reads.
DUBAWA Ghana decided to investigate these two submissions:
1: The inflation rate of the United States of America has jumped to an unprecedented record of 14.5%.
The Bureau of Labour Statistics is the principal fact-finding agency for the US Federal Government in the broad field of labour economics and statistics. It is responsible for publishing the inflation rate.
Its Consumer Price Index release for September 2022 indicated that “over the last 12 months, the all-items index increased 8.2 per cent before season adjustment.”
Various US local media organisations such as NBC News and Voice of America can be found to have published reports in this regard.
It is, therefore, not true that the inflation rate of the US has risen to 14.5%.
2: The UK is experiencing its 40-year high inflation rate of 9.9%
The UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) is yet to publish the country’s inflation figures for September 2022 as of the time of the publication of this report. However, the inflation report for August is available. It is 9.9% as quoted by Razak Kojo Opoku.
However, the UK’s 9.9% inflation rate for August 2022 is not the country’s highest in 40 years.
ONS’ inflation data for July 2022 indicates that the UK’s inflation rose to 10.1%.
“The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 10.1% in the 12 months to July 2022, up from 9.4% in June,” its July Bulletin reads.
A statement in the Bulletin said that “indicative modelled consumer price inflation estimates suggest that the CPI rate would have been higher around 1982, where estimates range from nearly 11% in January down to approximately 6.5% in December.”
Various publications by international newswires such as AlJazeera, CNBC, and Financial Times indicated that the UK’s 10.1% inflation rate for July was the country’s highest in about 40 years.
Conclusion
Official data from the UK Office of National Statistics and the US Bureau of Labour do not support Razak Opoku’s assertions.
