Annual Producer Price Index dips by 3.77 per cent

Accra, March 24, GNA - The Annual Producer Price Index (PPI) dropped by 3.77 percentage points in February, bringing the respective yearly change between February 2009 and February 2010 to 22.57 per cent, up from 26.34 per cent.

On monthly basis, the month under review (February) also recorded a drop of 0.24 percentage points to close at 0.44 per cent, up from 0.68 in January.

Mr Magnus Ebo Duncan, Director of Economics and Industry Statistics Division of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), who announced the figures at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, said the annual PPI for February 2010 was higher than the rate recorded for the same period in 2009, which stood at 12.6 per cent.

On specific industry basis, the manufacturing sector which controls 69.75 per cent shares of all industry, recorded the highest inflation rate of 28.15 per cent but, which represented a drop of 0.79 per cent from last month's figure, which stood at 28.84. The mining and quarrying sector which controls 13.97 per cent of all industry share, recorded a fall from 41.40 per cent rate in January 2010 to close at 24.48 per cent.

The utilities sector recorded the least figure of 0.24 to close at 0.42, up from 0.66 in January. Mr Duncan said the figures represented an appreciable inflation in the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products as against mined products.

He said the relatively stable nature of the utilities sector accounted for its recording of the least inflation rate.