Economist Professor Patrick Asuming has urged the government to focus on food inflation as part of efforts to sustain Ghana’s current disinflation trajectory.
His call follows the release of new data from the Ghana Statistical Service, showing that the headline inflation rate dropped to 18.4% year-on-year in May 2025. This is down from 21.2% in April and marks the lowest inflation level since February 2022.
Professor Asuming insisted that, maintaining momentum will require targeted measures particularly in the food sector, which remains a major driver of inflation volatility.
“At this moment you will see that some of the major drivers have really worked in our favour. The currency has strengthened significantly. That is really helping our course. With that, transport fares are down, fuel down and even some food items have seen reduction in the rate of inflation. But it still remains that food inflation is the biggest driver [of inflation]. That is where the attention has to be on.
“We are in the planting season now and the expectation is that we make the necessary investment to ensure that food production doesn’t suffer but also the food distribution channels. I think if we make the investment this planting season, we will be able to bring food inflation down substantially,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Government Statistician, Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu, is urging businesses to refrain from unjustified price increases, as the country records a significant drop in inflation for the fifth consecutive month.
Headline inflation fell sharply to 18.4% year-on-year in May 2025, down from 21.2% in April – the lowest since February 2022 driven by lower transport costs and easing non-food inflation.
The disinflation trend is further buoyed by recent gains in the performance of the cedi.
Addressing the media in Accra, Dr. Iddrisu cautioned businesses against exploiting market conditions through opportunistic pricing.
“With disinflation underway, avoid sharp price hikes and rather build customer trust through transparent pricing,” he urged.
He encouraged businesses to leverage local sourcing to cut production costs, given that domestic inflation is falling more quickly than imported inflation.
He also advised companies to tailor pricing and distribution strategies based on regional inflation dynamics, highlighting that northern Ghana continues to record higher inflation levels with Upper West being the highest at 38.1%.
Since local inflation is easing faster than imported inflation, businesses can reduce cost pressures by sourcing locally,” he said.
For households, Dr. Iddrisu recommended practical cost-saving measures amid ongoing economic adjustment.
These include bulk food purchases, shared buying practices, and reliance on local, seasonal produce to counter food price pressures, which continue to contribute nearly two-thirds of overall inflation.
“Households could also limit discretionary spending on items like restaurants, which currently record 18.5% inflation, and recreation. With health inflation at 20.1%, he urged the use of the National Health Insurance Scheme and preventive care to avoid high out-of-pocket expenses.”
On the policy front, Dr. Iddrisu called for sustained macroeconomic stability, investment in post-harvest infrastructure and food logistics and expanded targeted social protections.
He emphasised the importance of policy coordination between the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana to monitor inflation drivers and assess the need for measured monetary tightening should underlying pressures resurface.
The latest inflation data is a positive turn for Ghana’s economy, but policymakers and market actors alike are being reminded that sustaining the momentum requires collective discipline.
