Inflation rises to 13.8%
The average change in prices of goods and services in the country measured by inflation maintained its steady rise to close at 13.8 per cent in January, this year.
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The January figure is 0.3 per cent higher than the 13.5 per cent recorded in December last year.
Also, the monthly change rate for January 2014 was 3.9 per cent as against the 1.0 per cent recorded in December 2013.
The Government Statistician, Dr Philomena Nyarko, who announced the new inflation figure at a press conference in Accra, said the combined pressures from both the food and non-food groups of the inflation basket, coupled with hikes in tariffs and the depreciation of the cedi which affected the general prices of goods and services over the period, pushed the rate to its current stand.
The food group recorded a rate of 7.1 per cent, about twice the figure recorded in the non-food group, which stood at 18.9 per cent.
The year-on-year inflation rate for January, which compares the change in prices of goods and services in one month against the corresponding one in the previous month, is the highest rate recorded since March 2010.
The rise in the rate comes at a time when the value of the cedi is dropping against some of the major foreign trading currencies, a phenomenon which is affecting the general prices of goods and services.
At the regional level, Dr Nyarko explained that the Ashanti Region recorded the highest inflation rate of 16.9 per cent, followed by the Central Region with 14.8 per cent while the Upper West Region recorded the lowest rate of 10.5 per cent.
From the general trend so far, it may be early days yet to predict that the government may likely miss its single digit inflation target for the year, although some analysts predict a double digit inflation by the close of the year.