An economist, Dr Isaac Acheampong, says government intervention is required to mitigate the high inflation rate in the two upper regions. The Upper West and Upper East Regions, which are among the poorest regions in Ghana, have incidentally recording the highest inflation rate in the country. In August, for instance, the two regions recorded 33.3% inflation rate, which was far above the national rate of 19.7%. He told Joy Business News that the government’s intervention, which should aim at reducing the cost of living in these regions, should be monitored keenly to ensure that it benefits the people of the regions. Dr. Acheampong, who is also a lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, mentioned two basic causes of inflation in the northern sector. He noted that while food and other items taken from the south to the upper regions become more expensive as a result of the cost in transporting them, conflict and natural disasters have also affected production there. “These market queens and other people who go there do not offer them the equilibrium price and so they buy their wares at a lower price, and then they also buy at a higher price, so the effect is obvious…That will exacerbate or aggravate their precarious standard of living.” Dr. Acheampong also blamed a section of the public who take undue advantage of government’s policies to provide sustainable social protection to the underprivileged areas. Story by Isaac Essel Myjoyonline.com/Ghana