Local goods inflation rises despite tax relief – Mark Badu-Aboagye

Locally manufactured goods have seen inflation rise despite tax relief for businesses, the CEO of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.

Mark Badu-Aboagye said the increase showed that pressure on production costs persisted, even as businesses benefited from a more stable exchange rate and falling interest rates.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express Business Edition on Thursday, he said the broader business environment had improved. But inflation figures for local goods pointed to unresolved challenges.

“If you look at the numbers, the cost of locally manufactured goods, the inflation for it went up a bit, which should tell you that we are still not out of the woods yet.”

His assessment tempered an otherwise positive account of business conditions. He described the 2026 budget as largely business-friendly and said tax relief had benefited businesses and consumers.

“Relatively, business has been good. Things are a bit better as compared to previous years.”

He said lower interest rates had also helped ease production costs. He added that businesses had contributed to single-digit inflation by limiting price increases.

The host challenged that assessment, noting that consumers’ experiences could differ depending on what they bought.

Mr Badu-Aboagye said the national average provided the basis for his assessment.

“No, so that's why we use the average. So the national average is 5.5 per cent.”

He acknowledged that some regions had inflation above that level. However, he maintained that prices had been broadly stable on average.

He attributed that performance partly to exchange rate stability and improved production costs. Still, he said further tariff reductions, alongside the tax relief, could have helped bring inflation for locally manufactured goods down.