Producer Price Inflation (PPI) Is 25.57% - Economic Statistics

The Director of Economic Statistics at the Ghana Statistical Service, Mr. Ebo Duncan, has disclosed that the Producer Price Inflation (PPI) for February 2010 measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services.

The PPI for Ghana, he noted, elaborates the price growth since September 2006, as well as the annual (point-to-point) and monthly inflation rates, for all industry and three major sub-sectors of industry, namely Mining and Quarry, Manufacturing as well as Utilities.

Speaking at a Press Conference in Accra, today, Mr. Duncan stated that the respective yearly change rate which is the percentage change in the PPI between February 2009 and February 2010 was 22.57%, indicating a 3.77 percentage points lower than that for January 2010.

He indicated that the most important industrial sub-sector with 69.75% share of all industry recorded an inflation rate of 28.15% whilst the mining and quarrying sector with 13.97% share of all industry recorded inflation rate of 24.48%. This, he, added is the sub-sector that recorded the highest monthly change rate.

“Utilities which include production, transmission and distribution of electricity, purification and distribution of water recorded 0.42% inflation,” he highlighted.

According to the Economics Statistician, the all industry year-on-year inflation rate for February 2010 was significantly higher than the rate recorded in the same period in 2009 (12.6%) adding that the inflation rate had been relatively stable for the first five months of 2009, averaging 11.69%.

Mr. Duncan reiterated that the rate increased thereafter and recorded the highest of 27.69% for the month of December 2009. Subsequently, the inflation rates in industry have been falling in the first two months of 2010.

He explained that between February 2009 and January 2010, the mining and quarry sub-sector exhibited the highest inflation rates followed by manufacturing.

“There was an appreciable inflation in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (62.26%), whiles manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork recorded negative inflation rates of 5.66%,” he enlightened.

Mr. Ebo Duncan concluded that there was an upsurge in the rate in June 2009, recording 17.77% before declining to 14.12% in August 2009.

Source ISD :( Michelle Fafa Agbenorto)