Ghana CPI hit 12.6% in December on rising housing, transport costs
By Christian Akorlie
ACCRA, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Ghana's consumer price inflation rose to 12.6% year-on-year in December compared with 12.2% the previous month, largely due to rising housing and transport costs, exceeding the Bank of Ghana's targeted band of 8% plus or minus 2 percentage points.
The West African country's statistics service said on Wednesday that housing and transport costs, including fuel, saw the largest increases in December, of 20.7% and 17.6% respectively. Food inflation, which had been the driving force behind recent inflation spikes, declined in December.
"This is the sixth consecutive month in a row that the prices of goods and services have gone up," government statistician Samuel Kobina Annim, told a news conference.
Ghana's central bank surprised the market in November by raising its prime interest rate 100 basis points to 14.5%, citing inflationary pressures. The Monetary Policy Committee will next meet on Jan. 25 and 26.
Emerging market central banks around the globe, at the sharp end of a global inflation shock, have ramped up interest rates in recent months and are expected to raise them further at a pace not seen in more than a decade.
(Reporting by Christian Akorlie; Writing by Cooper Inveen; Editing by Toby Chopra and Alexander Smith)
((cooper.inveen@thomsonreuters.com; +221 78 546 9850;))
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