The inflation rate for this month is expected to go up marginally because of the recent hikes in fuel prices. That is according the Ghana Statistical Service.  

The inflation rate for April as released by the service yesterday went down slightly to 18.7 percent.  This is because the recent increases in the prices of petroleum products were not captured.  

But the statistical service says this might change next month. Baah Wadie is Deputy Government Statistician. 

According to him, the increase in fuel prices of about 10 percent last month “was not captured in the current release because the time the fuel prices went up we had already picked our figures from the field. So it means that we’re going to capture that price effect in fuel next month and depending on what policies are put in place and how consumers respond to these changes we will capture that for you to see.” 

He added that “assuming that all the other factors remain constant and the basis  behave normally, then we can expect a slight increase, so depending on the base indices that were captured in the year 2015, they are going to impact the final figures that we produce.”

The projection means the cost of living might shoot up in the coming weeks.