Inflation For April: 30%

Inflation at the end of April over 12 months edged up slightly to 30.0 per cent from the 29.9 per cent registered in March. The inflation over 12 months opened the year at 16.3 per cent in January, but went up to 29.4 per cent in February on the strength of a near 100 per cent fuel increase.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) of Ghana Statistical Service said the average annual inflation for April 2003 is 18.1 per cent compared with 16.8 per cent in March 2003.

The Ghana Statistical Service explained that changes that are rInflation at the end of April over 12 months edged up slightly to 30.0 per cent from the 29.9 per cent registered in March. The inflation over 12 months opened the year at 16.3 per cent in January, but went up to 29.4 per cent in February on the strength of a near 100 per cent fuel eported in the Statistical Newsletter are monthly and annual. It said the monthly change measures the rate of price changes from month-to-month, while the annual change represents changes in price levels over a period of one year.

"It is worth mentioning that a decline of the rate of inflation from one period to the other does not necessarily mean that actual transaction prices are falling. For as long as the change remains positive, it means that price levels are increasing but at a declining rate," the Statistical Newsletter said.

Inflation over 12 months at the beginning of 2001 was 40.9 per cent dropping to 36.8 cent in June of the same year and closing lower at 21.3 per cent in December. The figure dipped further opening 2002 at 19.9 per cent and falling to 13.7 per cent in June and finishing at 15.2 per cent in December 2002.

Asked whether it was possible to achieve less than 10 per cent inflation figure by the end of 2004, Mr. K. Addomah-Gyabah, Deputy Government Statistician of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) said, "it is not possible to say that now since a lot of things could happen within that period". "It also depends on what factors go into forming the food basket and the weights that go to determine the total," he added.

Government on Monday said it was aiming at inflation of less than 10 per cent by end of 2004. The concept of a basket is used as a representation for all spending on household consumer goods and services in the economy by the population.

In particular, the new series extends the food sub-group to cover beverages while alcohol and tobacco have been grouped together in line with revised international standards.

The GSS said the weights in the index for the estimation of the average rate of price increase indicate the proportion of the household consumption on a particular commodity or service in the basket.

"Prices used for the computation of Consumer Price Index are actual transaction prices on the market. Bargaining for reduction is therefore, not expected; black market and discount prices are also excluded," it said.