Rising inflation: 'I will scrap taxes on imported food if I were President' - Joe Jackson

Bank of Ghana increases policy rate to 19%

Inflation rate for April is 23.6%, Ghana Statistical Service

High cost of food is the real inflation - Joe Jackson tells government

Financial analyst with Dalex Finance, Joe Jackson has noted that the main contributory factor to the rising inflation

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In his view, Ghanaians can heave a sigh of relief if government addresses the high cost of food challenge.

He noted that if he were to be the President of the Republic, he would have scrapped taxes on imported food. This, he said, will help alleviate the burdens of Ghanaians amidst the economic challenges the country is faced with.

Speaking on Citi TV's The Point of View programme on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, the financial analyst said, “The real inflation that is hitting us is the cost of food. If you can address it, things will come down a bit. If I were the president, I will scrap tax on imported food.”

Touching on the 200 basis point hike in the policy rate, the financial analyst with Dalex Finance said the increase in the monetary policy rate by the central bank will only compound more hardships for Ghanaians.

He explained that, the increase in the monetary rate by 200 basis point will prevent people from borrowing because of the high interest rate on lending.

“Increasing the rate does two critical things for us, first it means that people won’t borrow and the economy will slow down. This slowdown in the economy will hit all of us. The Bank of Ghana governor said the banks don’t lend to the private sector anyway so it is not a big deal but the government still borrows from banks so as the rate has gone up, the government will pay more to the banks in debt servicing. We are between the rock and a very hard place,” he explained.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana on May Monday, 23, 2022 increased the policy rate – the rate at which it lends to commercial banks by 200 basis points [19%].

This was announced by the Governor of the Bank of Governor, Dr. Ernest Addison at a press briefing on May 23, 2022.

The increase in the Central Bank’s monetary policy rate means that the cost of borrowing will go up.

The move is to tame the rising inflation in the country.