Inflation Goes Up By 2%

Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has disclosed that Producer Price Inflation (PPI) recorded 5.4 percent for February 2019. This rate represents a 2.0 percentage point increase in producer inflation relative to the rate recorded in January 2019 which was 3.4%.

PPI measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services for all industry and three major sub-sectors of industry- Mining and Quarrying, Manufacturing and Utilities.

The producer price inflation in the mining and quarrying sub-sector also increased by 4.5 percentage points over January 2019 rate of 8.9 percent to record 13.4 percent in February 2019.

The producer inflation for manufacturing, which constitutes more than two-thirds of total industry, increased by 2.0 percentage points to record 5.0 percent.

The utilities sub-sector recorded an inflation rate of 0.2% compared to a zero inflation rate recorded in January 2019.

Petroleum Price Index recorded 8.9 percent from 3.8 percent in January 2019.

In February 2019, five out of the 16 major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 5.0 percent.

Manufacture of basic metals recorded the highest inflation rate of 16.1 percent, while manufacture of machinery and equipment n.e.c. recorded 0.0 percent.

“The figures for the month of February 2019 are provisional, and are subject to revision when additional data become available,” the GSS said.

---Daily Guide