Ghana will raise its water and electricity tariffs by more than a fifth in September, its utilities regulator said on Monday, as the West African country grapples with soaring inflation, debt and a depreciating currency.
The average end-user tariffs for electricity and water will increase by 27.15% and 21.55% respectively, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) said in a statement, citing increased power costs, inflation and foreign exchange rates among the reasons.
“Some level of increases in utility tariffs were inevitable if the nation was to avoid another dumsor,” the regulator said, using a local term for blackouts.
The last major review of tariffs, which was in 2018, resulted in a 17.5% reduction for residential consumers and 30% reduction for non-residential consumers in electricity tariffs, the PURC said, adding that since then the country’s macroeconomic situation has deteriorated.
Ghana’s consumer inflation accelerated to 31.7% annually in July, its highest since late 2003, data showed last week.
The cedi currency has depreciated around 30% this year and all three major credit rating agencies have downgraded Ghana’s sovereign bonds to ‘junk’ status.