Accra, Ghana//-The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) today increased the Policy Rate by 250 basis point to 24.5% as a moved to check the rising rate of inflation at the time when the country negotiates with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an economic programme.
This means it will become more expensive to borrow from the banks, a situation that will push cost of living and doing business in the country further up.
The Governor of BoG, Dr. Ernest Addison, told journalists in Accra today: “Inflation remains elevated and the balance of risks is on the upside. Although the forecasts are for monthly inflation to continue to slow down, the risks are on the upside, emanating largely from pass-through effects of the currency depreciation, the recent upward adjustment in utility tariffs, and rising inflation expectations. The Committee remains committed to re-anchoring inflation expectations and returning to a disinflation path,” Dr. Addison said.
Since the Bank of Ghana first increased the policy rate in March 2021, the interest policy rate has gone up by 9.5%.
The BoG increased the policy rate by 2.5% on March 25, 2022 to 17%, and subsequently increased it on May 23, 2022 to 19%.
It again adjusted it upwards by 300 basis points to 22% in August 2022.
The policy rate is the rate at which the central bank does overnight lending to commercial banks in the country. With the keeping of the policy rate, all the commercial banks are expected to maintain their base rates. file:///Users/masahudu/Downloads/MPC%20Press%20Release%20-%20October%202022.pdf
