By Cooper Inveen

ACCRA (Reuters – Ghana’s consumer inflation accelerated from 19.4% to 23.6% in March to 23.6% in April, according the statistics service. This is a record that one economist called “shocking”.

This was West Africa’s most recent inflation reading in 18 years. It also exceeded the government’s target range of 6%-10%.

The statistics service found that prices rose for 295 out of 307 of the items it analysed. Except in the instance of local food, the prices of imported products rose more quickly than the locally produced ones for the first 29-months.

Transportation costs including fuel prices saw significant increases of 33.5% compared with 17.4% in March. The cost of diesel alone rose by 90.9%.

Samuel Kobina Annim from the government statistics department said that “we were all anticipating diesel increases”, and they are now imported goods at a news conference.

If we want to make policy that addresses the current challenges, we must look at the problem from both the non-food and food perspective,” he said.

The food prices increased 26.6% compared to the prior month, nearly twice the average 12.5% for the 12-month period. The largest contributor to the increase in cereal prices was Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine.

Razia Khan (OTC:) Bank’s Chief Economist for Africa and Middle East said that the rise was shocking and could cause the bank to tighten its interest rates.

“Failing to act fast could have wide-ranging implications and put at risk any hope for macroeconomic stabilisation,” she stated.

In March, Ghana’s central banking raised its main lending rates by 250 basis points. This was in response to fears that runaway inflation and a rising national debt could lead to an economic crisis.

From May 18th to March 23, the central bank’s monetary committee will be meeting to discuss any further adjustments.