PPI climbs to 17.28 % in Ghana

The Producer Price Index (PPI) in Ghana shot up to 17.28 percent last month, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) announced here on Wednesday. The monthly change rate for November was 1.90 percent, compared with that of -1.25 (negative 1.25) percent recorded for the previous month, Government Statistician Grace Bediako told the media. The PPI measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services. The November PPI was also 0.88 percentage points higher than the revised 16. 40 percent recorded for the previous month. The chief statistician said the upward movement in the PPI was greatly influenced by world gold prices, which had experienced some appreciation in the month under review. "Mining and quarrying, with a 13.97 percentage share in all industry, also recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 36.36 percent while the utilities, with a 16. 28 percent share in all industry, recorded the least inflation of 7.71 percent," Bediako disclosed. Manufacturing, the largest sub-sector in all industry with a share of 69.75 percent, recorded the second largest inflation of 16.50 percent. The mining and quarrying sub-sector recorded the highest monthly change of 7.08 percent, followed by manufacturing with 1. 23 percent, while the utilities recorded a flat change rate. Asked why gold price continued to be an important ingredient in Ghana's PPI, she explained that since gold was a major part of the mining and quarrying sub-sector but its prices were determined on the world market, the substance would continue to be relevant in determining the movement of the country's PPI along the line of price movement on the world stage. The Head of economic statistics at the GSS, Magnus Ebo Duncan, added that soon after the PPI was rebased to include oil, the world market price of the commodity would also begin to affect the direction of the PPI.