(Xinhua) -- Ghana's consumer inflation rate surged to 54.1 percent in December, a record high, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said Wednesday.

Samuel Kobina Annim, the government statistician at the GSS, who announced the increase at a press briefing, said the rise in the inflation rate was due to the increasing prices of food and non-food items during the month under review.

"Food with a 43.1 percent share in the inflation basket increased by 59.7 percent in December from 55.3 percent in November," said Annim.

He added that non-food items, with a 56.9 percent share of the inflation basket, recorded an inflation rate of 49.9 percent in December compared with 46.5 percent during the previous month.

Meanwhile, inflation for locally produced items and imported items stood at 51.1 percent and 61.9 percent, respectively.

Ghana has been confronted by soaring inflation and continuous currency depreciation since the beginning of last year, prompting the government to begin negotiations with the International Monetary Fund to seek a bail-out package of 3 billion U.S. dollars to support the ailing economy.