August inflation rises to 16.9%

The year on year inflation rate for the month of August this year has increased marginally from 16.7% in July to 16.9% in August.

This was revealed by the government statistician Philomena Nyarko. She blamed the increase on the rise in import inflation and the non-food sector. She argued that prices of goods were increasing due to the doubts people have ahead of the elections.

Some sectors which fall within the non-food category include; Education, Housing, Water, Transport among others. Meanwhile the price drivers for the food inflation includes; vegetables, mineral water, coffee, tea, Cocoa among others.

READ ALSO: July inflation drops to 16.7%

According to Accra-based Starr FM the government statistician also reported that Upper East recorded the lowest inflation rate of 11.8%, the region with the highest inflation rate was Greater Accra 20.1% followed by Ashanti Region with 18.5%.

Meanwhile locally produced items decreased from 17.3% in July to 16.7% in August.

READ ALSO: Price of commodities

The government statistician also revealed that inflation for imported items also rose from 15.2% in July to 17.3% in August.

The non-food and non-alcoholic beverages segment recorded a year on year inflation rate of 8.5%.

This is 0.1 percentage point lower than the rate recorded in July 2016. The non -food inflation group recorded a year on year inflation rate of 21.5 % in August 2016, compared to the 21.2% recorded for July 2016.