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Energy tariffs pull down inflation to 18.4 pct in Ghana

Xinhua, July 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Lower rate of price changes for the energy sector generally caused a 0.5 percentage point dip in inflation rate in Ghana for the month of June, 2016, the country's Statistical Service said here on Wednesday.

The rate of inflation recorded for June was 18.4 percent year-on-year, compared with the 18.9 percent recorded in May 2016, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) disclosed to the media.

"While the monthly change rate for June 2016 was 1.3 percent compared to the 1.1 percent recorded for May 2016, the Food and Non-alcoholic beverages group recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 8.6 percent, which is 0.1 percentage point higher than the 8.5 percent recorded in May 2016," Philomena Nyarko, Government Statistician stated.

According to her, non-food group dipped 0.9 percentage points to record a year-on-year inflation rate of 24.1 percent in June 2016, compared with the 25.0 percent recorded for May 2016, with four subgroups recording year-on-year inflation rates higher than the group's average rate of 24.1 percent.

"The main price drivers for the non-food inflation rate were transport (40.3 percent); education (33.3 percent); housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (32.8 percent) as well as recreation and culture (27.4 percent)," Nyarko added.

Inflation rate for imported items dropped 1.4 percentage points to 17.1 percent in June from the 18.5 percent recorded in May 2016.

"Stability in the local cedi currency is one of the factors that ensured a drop in the inflation for imported items, as well as a slight easing in consumer inflation rate," Nyarko explained.

Head of Economic Statistics at the GSS, Edward Afram Asuo, added that the base-drift effect also contributed to the easing of inflation marginally.

"Around this same time last year, there was a 9.0 percent increase in petroleum prices, but come this year the increase has been 4.0 percent," he explained. Endit