BoG's Director of Research, Dr. Philip Abradu-Otoo, defends Ghana's 5.2% September 2026 inflation rate, citing the inflation-targeting framework and regional currency pegs.
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The Director of Research at the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Philip Abradu-Otoo, says Ghana's inflation performance remains in favourable territory despite rising to 5.2% in September 2026.
He argues that comparisons with other African economies often ignore differences in monetary policy regimes, noting that several West African peers operate currency pegs to the euro, which helps keep their inflation low.
According to him, Ghana's performance must be assessed within its inflation-targeting framework, which relies mainly on interest rates to control price increases.
Dr. Abradu-Otoo was speaking at the launch of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research's (ISSER) State of the Ghanaian Economy Report 2025, on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
"So we have an inflation-targeting framework of monetary policy, and we use the interest rate tool as the main tool to control inflation. 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 said.
"So their currencies have been pegged to the euro. The euro is a stable currency, and therefore it feeds into their inflation numbers as very low inflation."
He added: "By and large, our inflation numbers are in very good territory, and we should be happy about that."
Dr. Abradu-Otoo also addressed the recent decline in the central bank's international reserves, attributing it to disruptions in gold exports linked to the Middle East crisis.
He explained that the disruption limited reserve accumulation in the first seven months of the year, forcing the Bank to draw on its holdings to support trade and economic activity.
According to him, gold exports resumed in September, and reserve inflows are expected to improve by the end of the year.
On debt, he said the slight increase in the figures was due to exchange rate movements, not fresh borrowing, pointing to a 10.8% depreciation of the cedi since the start of the year.
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