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Producer inflation drops to 3.7% in September

The month-on-month change in the producer price index between August and September 2015 was also 1.1 per cent.

 

Annual Producer Price Inflation (PPI) for the month of September was 3.7 per cent, showing a decrease of 0.2 percentage points over the revised 3.9 per cent recorded in August this year.

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 rate at a news conference in Accra yesterday, Wednesday, the Government Statistician, Dr Philomena Nyarko, said the utilities sub-sector recorded the highest year-on-year producer price inflation rate of 7.2 per cent.

“The utilities sub-sector recorded an inflation rate of 7.2 per cent in September 2015, indicating a decrease of 1.2 percentage points over the August 2015 rate of 8.4 per cent,” she said.

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The manufacturing sub-sector followed with 4.3 per cent while the mining and quarrying sub-sector recorded the lowest year-on-year inflation rate of -2.1 per cent.

“The producer price inflation in the mining and quarrying sub-sector decreased by 3.8 percentage points over the August 2015 rate of 1.7 per cent, to record -2.1 per cent in September 2015. Manufacturing, which constitutes more than two-thirds of total industry, increased slightly by 0.9 percentage points to record 4.3 per cent,” she explained.

Petroleum sub-sector inflation

Dr Nyarko noted that the inflation rate in the petroleum sub-sector was 59.5 per cent in September 2014 and thereafter fluctuated until November, 2014 when it recorded a rate of 61.1 per cent.

She said, “Subsequently, the rate steadily declined to record -8.7 per cent in March 2015 and -9.6 per cent in May 2015 as a result of base drift effect and decrease in ex-refinery prices of petroleum products.”

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The rate, however, increased in June 2015 to record -0.01 per cent as a result of the increase in petroleum prices but decreased to -6.4 per cent in July 2015 due to base drift effect.

In September 2015, the rate declined to -27.9 per cent due to the decrease in prices of petroleum products.

PPI trends

Outlining the trend of the PPI from September 2014, Dr Nyarko said the producer price inflation rate consistently declined to record 19.2 per cent in March 2015. It inched up to record 19.5 per cent in April, 2015 and then declined to 18.8 per cent in May 2015.

“It, however, increased again in June 2015 to record 23.1 per cent. The rate then declined consistently from 10.2 per cent in July 2015 to record 3.7 per cent in September 2015,” she emphasised.

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