Inflation Persistence in the West African Commonwealth Countries

The study examined the persistence of inflation in the West African Commonwealth Countries (WACCs). The methods used include the simple average method, the conventional unit-root test, the first coefficient of the autoregressive method, and the mean of the sum of the significant coefficient of the autoregressive method. The results of all the methods of estimations reveal the existence of high inflation persistence in all the countries and the panel with the exception of the simple average method that shows no inflation persistence in the Gambia. Meanwhile, the conventional unit-root test indicates that in Sierra Leone, inflation persistence is high while the rest of the countries and the panel required further analysis using other methods. This research was able to examine the inflation persistence in WACCs and establish its existence empirically. The research makes some recommendations on the basis of the findings of the study.