Producer Price Inflation rate for August up

The Producer Price Inflation (PPI) rate for the month of August, this year has increased to 10.2 per cent.

The rate indicates that between August 2018 and August 2019 (year-on-year), the PPI went up by 10.2 per cent and represents a 1.4 percentage point increase in producer inflation.

This is relative to the rate recorded in July 2019 which stood at 8.8 per cent.

The PPI measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services.

Announcing the new rate at a news conference in Accra today, the Deputy Government Statistician, Mrs Araba Forson, said the PPI in the mining and quarry sub-sector increased by 8.9 per percentage points over the July 2019 rate of 27.6 per cent to record 36.5 per cent in August 2019.

“The producer inflation for manufacturing which constitutes more than two-thirds of total industry, increased by 0.4 percentage points to record 5.8 per cent.

“The utilities sub-sector recorded the same inflation rate of 6.9 per cent as the rate for July 2019,” she noted.

Trends

Regarding the trends, Mrs Forson said in August 2018, the price inflation rate for all the industry was 7.0 per cent but declined to 5.8 per cent in September 2018.

She added that the rate increased to 7.2 per cent in October 2018 but declined consistently to 3.4 per cent in January 2019.

“Since then, the rate resumed an upward trend to record 7.1 per cent in April 2019 but declined to 6.7 per cent in May 2019” adding that subsequently, the rate increased consistently to record 10.2 per cent in August 2019”.

Manufacturing sector

In the manufacturing sector, Mrs Forson said in August 2019, seven out of the 16 major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 5.8 per cent.

“Manufacture of machinery and equipment recorded the highest inflation rate of 24.7 per cent, while tanning and dressing of leather recorded an inflation rate of 0.0 per cent,” she stated.

Petroleum Price Index

About petroleum price index, she said the producer inflation rate in the petroleum sub-sector which was 41.6 per cent in August 2018 decreased to 31.1 per cent in September 2018 but increased to 36.1 per cent in October 2018.

“It decreased to record 3.8 per cent in January 2019, but the rate increased consistently to record 17.2 per cent in April 2019, but it however decreased again to 1.2 per cent in June 2019;

However, it increased consistently to 3.1 per cent in August 2019,” She noted.