By Aaron Hammond 
There is finally some good news for our pockets after a few tough months of price hikes. The Ghana Statistical Service has officially announced that the national inflation rate dropped beautifully to 4.6 percent in July. This is a massive improvement from the 5.3 percent we recorded in June.
It is actually the very first time inflation has slowed down since March this year. Government Statistician Alhassan Iddrisu delivered the refreshing update on Thursday to the excitement of many citizens. We can all breathe a heavy sigh of relief because the numbers show that the speed at which prices are rising is finally slowing down.
The biggest savior in this positive economic progress is the food sector. Food inflation fell to an impressive 3.1 percent in July compared to the previous month. This simply means average food prices declined slightly during the month giving regular households some breathing space.
The statistical service noted that local food staples like kontomire and garden eggs alongside maize became cheaper in the markets. This relief offset the sharp price increases we saw with ginger and fresh tomatoes recently. When food becomes affordable the ordinary Ghanaian automatically feels much happier.
Over 86 percent of our inflation comes from goods and services produced right here at home. This means local transport fares and energy costs play a major role in how much we spend daily. Non food inflation also dropped slightly to 6.1 percent showing a general cooling down across various sectors of the economy.
The Bank of Ghana recently kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged to help manage the situation carefully. The central bank wants to ensure that inflation stays comfortably within its target band of 6 to 10 percent. The economic recovery plan is clearly working and we can only hope this beautiful downward trend continues into the festive season.
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