Ex-factory prices up by 1.59%

Ghana's annual percentage change in the Producer Price Index (PPI) (that is percentage change for all industry, between January 2008 and January 2009), which measures inflation in prices of goods at production level recorded 11.29% for January, this year.

This implies that ex-factory prices for all industry, which includes manufacturing, mining and quarrying and utilities sub-sectors were on 11.29% higher in January 2009 than they were in January, last year. This represents an increase of 1.59 percentage points in inflation over that of December 2008.

Additionally, the January 2009 PPI for the three major sub-sectors were: mining and quarrying, 224.06; manufacturing, 135.75; and utilities, 158.41. Whilst, the percentage change in the PPI for January 2009 relatively to January 2008, that is the rate of inflation for these sub-sectors were: mining and quarrying, 30.48%; manufacturing, 10.42%; and utilities, 1.26%.

However, the Director of Economics Statistics Division at the Ghana Statistical Service, Mr. Ebo Duncan told journalists in Accra that the rate of producer price inflation in January 2009 compared with December 2008 for mining and quarrying, manufacturing and utilities sub-sectors jumped up to 7.92, 0.26 and 0.18 percentage points respectively.

In the manufacturing sub-sector, fourteen out of sixteen of the major groupings showed appreciable increases of at least 10%, in their index level, ranging from 12.89% (manufacture of furniture and manufacturing n.e.c) to 103.49% (manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c).

Also, the monthly change in the all industry PPI for January 2009, that is, the percentage change in the PPI between December 2008 and January 2009, recorded 2.50%. The corresponding changes for the major sub-sectors were: mining and quarrying, 12.58%; manufacturing, 0.68% and utilities, 0.20%.

Instructively, the rise in the index for mining and quarrying is strongly associated with the increase in the prices of metal ores which represent 95% of the output of the sub-sector. Four out of eleven sub-groups contributed at least 4% each to the total manufacturing output, have increases of at least 1% in their index level.

These sub-groups are: production, processing and preservation of meat, fish, fruit, vegetable, oils and fats, spinning, weaving and fishing of textiles, manufacture of products of wood, cork, straw and plaiting materials and manufacture of non-metallic mineral products.