They believe the Bank of Ghana’s measures put in place to curb the consistent rise in inflation are either not working or the situation is not being diagnosed properly. Both, are thereby calling on the government through the finance ministry to consider other factors such as the fiscal space.
This has therefore lay bare the inflation targeting regime of the central bank, which it uses to control economy in terms of currency exchange rate and rate of economic growth, to criticisms by some economists as to whether it real works the magic or it is a 'try your luck' theory.
The MPC need to decide on the current policy rate, which stands at 17%. The policy rate, which influences interest rates for individuals and businesses, is also used as a tool to curb inflation in the country.
Some economists have predicted that, the MPC bimonthly review of the economy will ‘sweat’ to arrive at policy recommendations that balance its mandate to tame the unprecedented inflation spike, manage liquidity issues, and growing the economy.
Year on year inflation is expected to worsen further in the coming months in the wake of the decision by the Public Utility Regulation Commission to hike tariffs of electricity and water as well as increase in transport fares by the transport operators in the country.
The Bank of Ghana’s latest forecast still depicts an elevated inflation profile in the near term, with inflation falling within the medium-term target band within a year.
With the recent hike in petroleum prices in the country, year on year inflation is expected to rise further in the coming month as it would have a severe impact on both food and non food inflation of the Consumer Price Index, (CPI) basket.