Inflation for the month of August 2015 decreased to 17.3% from the 17.9% recorded in July of the same year.
[contextly_sidebar id=”MvCcFcsGk46fKpfzdTQ4rJ4cO0pcK6dy”]The monthly change rate for August is minus 0.7% while that of July was 2.3%. The food inflation rose to 7.7% compared to the 7.6% recorded for July 2015, non food inflation recorded 23.4%.
The consumer price index measures the change over time in the general price levels of goods and services that households require for the purpose of consumption.
According to the Chief Executive of the Ghana Statistical Service Dr. Philomena Nyarko the current trend is due to the cedi’s performance.
“That could be the case because as you saw a decline in the inflation rate for the non food group which dropped by about one percentage point so that could be the reason for the reduction attributed to the appreciation of the cedi.
We know that the inflation rate for food went up and the inflation rate for 8 commodities also went up with regards to the regions.”
The main “price drivers” for the non-food inflation rate were recreation and culture (25.8%), education (25.6%), transport (25.3%), clothing and footwear (25.1%), furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance (24.9%) and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (23.5%).
The inflation rate for imported items was 18.1% in August 2015 compared with 21.2% recorded in July 2015 and inflation rate for locally produced items was 17.0% in August 2015 same as the rate recorded in July 2015.
Three regions Ashanti, Greater Accra and Central recorded inflation rates higher than the national average of 17.3%.
Upper West region recorded the same inflation rate as the national average of 17.3 percent.
The Ashanti region recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 18.9% while the Northern Region recorded the lowest rate of 13.8%.
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By: Norvan Acquah – Hayford/citifmonline.com/Ghana