Ghana and Philippines report mixed inflation trends for August

In Ghana, the Ghana Statistical Service reported that fresh tomato prices surged by 158.3% year-on-year in August 2026, marking the largest price increase among tracked commodities. Other significant rises included ginger at 128.3% and shrimp at 67.1%. Despite these spikes, overall food inflation eased to 3.0% from 3.1% in July, and food prices generally fell by 2.5% month-on-month. Ghana's headline year-on-year inflation rose to 5.0% in August from 4.6% in July, driven largely by non-food items, which accounted for 70.9% of inflation. Additionally, imported inflation remained low at 2.2%, suggesting exchange-rate stability is helping contain costs for foreign goods.

In the Philippines, inflation slowed for the fourth consecutive month in August, reaching 6.1% from 6.2% in July. While this fell within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' forecast range, it remains above the government's 2% to 4% target. Food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation slowed to 4.6% from 5.2% in July, aided by declines in vegetable prices. However, rice inflation accelerated to 19.4% in August, up from 17.1% in July, due to a low base effect from the previous year.