The Bank of Ghana’s Director of Research, Dr Philip Abradu-Otoo, has described Ghana’s inflation performance as encouraging, saying the country’s inflation rate remains within a favourable range despite a slight increase in September 2026.
Ghana’s inflation rate rose to 5.2% in September from 4.4% in August. However, Dr Abradu-Otoo believes the country’s performance should be assessed within the context of its monetary policy framework and the measures used to control price increases.
Speaking at the launch of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research’s (ISSER) State of the Ghanaian Economy Report 2025, he explained that Ghana’s inflation-targeting framework relies primarily on interest rates to manage inflation.
He noted that some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghana’s West African peers, operate currency arrangements that peg their currencies to the euro, which he said helps keep their inflation figures relatively low.
“So we have an inflation-targeting framework of monetary policy, and we use the interest rate tool as the main tool to control inflation,” he said.
“Now if you go to most of these countries, even if you look at our peers in the West African sub-region, they are using a form of a currency peg.”
He added that the stability of the euro influences inflation in countries whose currencies are pegged to it.
“The euro is a stable currency, and therefore it feeds into their inflation numbers as very low inflation,” he said.
Despite the slight increase in September, Dr Abradu-Otoo maintained that Ghana’s inflation performance had improved significantly and should be viewed positively.
“And I think by and large, our inflation numbers are in very good territory, and we should be happy about that,” he said.
Beyond inflation, the BoG Research Director also addressed concerns about the recent decline in Ghana’s international reserves, attributing the development partly to disruptions in gold exports during the Middle East crisis.
According to him, the interruption in gold exports limited the accumulation of reserves during the first seven months of the year, prompting the central bank to draw on its existing holdings to support trade and economic activity.
He said gold exports resumed in September, expressing optimism that the recovery in exports would improve reserve inflows and help restore reserves to normal levels by the end of the year.
Dr Abradu-Otoo also explained that the recent increase in Ghana’s debt figures was partly due to exchange-rate movements rather than new government borrowing.
He pointed to a reported 10.8% depreciation in the exchange rate since the beginning of the year, suggesting that currency movements had contributed to the change in the country’s debt figures.
