Bank of Ghana holds policy rate at 14% as inflation edges up to 5%

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The Bank of Ghana's Monetary Policy Committee unanimously kept the policy rate at 14% on 24 September 2026, its third consecutive hold, citing oil prices and global uncertainty.

Jurisdiction GhanaPractice Banking and FinanceSector Banking and Financial Services

The Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep the monetary policy rate at 14% at its 132nd meeting, held on 23 and 24 September 2026, The Ghanaian Chronicle reported. Ghana Business News described the decision on 25 September as the third consecutive hold in 2026. The Committee said it viewed the balance of risks to inflation and growth as broadly balanced.

The data behind the decision

Headline inflation rose to 5% in August from 4.6% in July, with non-food inflation up to 6.8% from 6.1%, while food inflation eased to 3% and core inflation to 4.2%, according to the Chronicle’s account of the MPC statement. Inflation therefore remains below the Bank’s medium-term target band of 8% plus or minus 2 percentage points. Real GDP grew 6% in the second quarter, against 6.6% a year earlier, and non-oil growth slowed to 5.4%.

Financing conditions have loosened sharply. The 91-day Treasury bill rate stood at 5.4%, down from 10.3% a year earlier, average bank lending rates fell to 15.9% from 24.2%, and private sector credit grew 35.5% in August. Gross international reserves were reported at US$12 billion, or 4.5 months of import cover, and public debt at 45.9% of GDP. Ghana Business News reported that the Committee pointed to crude oil prices above US$100 a barrel, tightening by major central banks and the uptick in inflation as reasons for caution.

Pressure on the cedi

The hold comes as the currency weakens. MyJoyOnline reported on 23 September, citing Bank of Ghana data, that the cedi had depreciated 9.5% against the US dollar in the first nine months of 2026, trading at about GH¢11.55 on the interbank market and GH¢12.20 at forex bureaus. That contrasts with an appreciation of 18.45% over the same period of 2025. The next MPC meeting is scheduled for 16 to 18 November 2026.

Why it matters

With inflation well below target and a real policy rate of about nine percentage points, the MPC has room to cut, and its decision to wait signals that currency and imported-fuel risks now weigh more heavily than growth. For lenders, the gap between a 5.4% bill rate and a 14% policy rate compresses treasury income and pushes balance sheets towards private credit, which is already growing quickly; credit teams should revisit concentration limits and pricing assumptions. Borrowers with foreign currency costs and cedi revenues should note that depreciation has returned after last year’s rally, which bears on hedging, pricing clauses and covenant headroom in cedi-denominated facilities. Counsel reviewing floating-rate facilities benchmarked to the policy rate or the Ghana Reference Rate should expect no relief before November.