Members of Ghana’s MPC disagreed on the rate choice, as shown in minutes

In its most recent meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Ghana central bank raised its prime interest rate by 100 basis points to 28% after two of the five members decided to maintain it at 27%, according to minutes released on Wednesday.

Differing opinions within the Bank of Ghana’s MPC over how forcefully to address inflation are highlighted by the split decision.

Governor Johnson Asiama said the strict monetary policy stance was necessary to reduce inflation when he announced the surprise rate hike on Friday.

Ghana’s statistics agency reported earlier Wednesday that the country’s annual consumer inflation rate dropped for the third consecutive month, from 23.1% in February to 22.4% in March.

Asiama has earlier issued a warning that consumer inflation in the West African country that produces cocoa, oil, and gold is still “uncomfortably high” and beyond the bank’s target of 8%, with a margin of error of two percentage points on each side.