Inflation for October 2022 has reached 40.4 percent, accelerating from 37.2% in September.
October inflation was highest in the category of housing, water, electricity and gas, with prices up 69.6%. Furniture, household equipment and maintenance came second, at 55.7%, and transport, including fuel, was third at 46.3%.
Food inflation rose to 43.7%, from 37.8% last month, driven higher by items such as water, milk, eggs and sugar, according to the statistics agency.
Ghana’s dollar-denominated sovereign bonds fell, on a day when many emerging market assets were gaining on hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve would pare back its interest rate hikes. Its longest-dated 2061 maturity was down the most, by 0.742 cents to 32.675 cents on the dollar.
More than a thousand demonstrators took to the streets of the capital Accra on Saturday to demand the president’s resignation, as fuel and food prices continue to spiral. Small businesses closed their doors for several days last month to protest rising costs.
The central bank has hiked its main lending rate by 10 percentage points since the start of the year in an attempt to hold back inflation and slow the cedi’s depreciation. The next monetary policy meeting is slated for the end of this month.