The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana says it expects the recent increase in utility tariffs to have a marginal impact on inflation. The seven percent increase in utility tariffs announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission took effect from 1st September. Addressing journalists at Thursday’s MPC news conference, Central Bank Governor, Kwesi Amissah Arthur said the single-digit inflation target is not threatened. He said the managers of the economy foresaw such increases and made room in the inflation targeting for such encumbrances. The Bank of Ghana yesterday maintained the policy rate at 12.5 percent, citing signs of possible economic imbalance which could throw the economy out of gear. Meanwhile, the President of the Association of Ghana Industries, Nana Owusu Afari says they would have preferred a reduction in the policy rate. Heb said maintaining the policy rate means that banks will also maintain their lending rates which are so high, saying they are stifling the growth of the industrial sector.