Rising fuel costs pose risk to Ghana’s inflation outlook – Deloitte

Rising fuel costs pose a risk to Ghana’s 2026 inflation outlook, as high oil prices will pass through into elevated energy costs and transport fares, Deloitte has disclosed in its monthly inflation outlook.

According to the report, the Bank of Ghana is expected to slow the pace of its interest rate cuts and adopt a cautious stance amid mounting inflationary pressures.

It added that food inflation may rise in the coming months due to seasonality, as supply of staple crops such as maize, rice, and cassava is reduced, putting upward pressure on the food index.

Similarly, non-food inflation is expected to inch upwards due to rising housing, utility, and transport costs. “The pressures from potential exchange rate volatility affecting imported goods and upward adjustments in service costs could also heighten inflationary pressures on this sub-index”.

Inflation shot marginally by 0.2 percentage points to 3.4% in April 2026, marking the first increase after 15 consecutive months of decline.

The month-on-month inflation also accelerated, reaching 1.0% from 0.1% in March 2026, the highest monthly increase since February 2025.

Also, the year-on-year food inflation fell to 2.2% from 2.3% in March 2026. This was driven by improved domestic supply conditions, favorable seasonal factors for agricultural produce like okra, kontomire, watermelon, garden eggs, and sustained stability of the cedi reducing imported input costs.

Again, the non-food inflation increased to 4.2% from 3.9% in March, due to higher fuel prices leading to an increase in transport costs and structural rigidities in housing, utilities (water/gas/electricity).

The top five divisions with the highest inflation rates in April 2026 were Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other fuels (12.48%); Insurance and Financial Services (7.9%), Education Services (7.5%); Restaurants and Accommodation Services (7.5%) and Recreation, Sports and Culture (4.8%).

المصدر: MyJoyOnline (GH)