Accra — Ghana’s central bank reduced its key interest rate for a third straight meeting as consumer prices rose at the slowest rate in four years and the currency strengthened. The Bank of Ghana cut the rate to 21% from 22.5%, governor Ernest Addison said on Monday. That is the lowest rate since early 2015. The median of nine economists’ estimates was for a cut to 21.5%. Bank surveys on price growth "suggest dampening of underlying inflation pressures", Addison said. The disinflation process "is still ongoing and this trend is likely to continue all through till the end of the third quarter". The central bank of West Africa’s biggest economy after Nigeria’s has cut the benchmark rate after inflation slowed from a record high in March 2016 and the currency recovers from an all-time low. The 91-day treasury bill rate, used by banks to determine their lending rates, also eased 417 basis points since January to 12.6% on July 21. The government has vowed to boost growth from 2016, when t...
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