(Bloomberg) -- Ghana’s annual inflation rate jumped to a six-month high in November, a stark reminder of the economic hardships many are facing as they head to the polls on Saturday.
Consumer prices rose 23%, compared with 22.1% in October, Government Statistician Samuel Kobina Annim told reporters in the capital, Accra, on Wednesday.
The uptick was partly due to the return of power cuts and a 20% depreciation in the cedi this year against the dollar that’s stoked food prices. They climbed 25.9% amid the soaring costs of beans and yams, a staple in the West African nation.
The cost-of-living crisis will be a factor in this weekend’s presidential elections. Voter anger with the government’s handling of the economy is expected to result in opposition candidate John Dramani Mahama being elected the next leader of the West African nation.
The Bank of Ghana held interest rates at 27% last month, after a 200 basis-point cut in Septembe as it expects inflation will take longer to return to its target band of 6% to 10% than previously anticipated.
Non-food inflation decelerated to 20.7% from 21.5%. Prices rose 2.6% in the month.
--With assistance from Ana Monteiro and Simbarashe Gumbo.
(Updates with food-price inflation in third paragraph.)
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