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Inflation inches up in December
Inflation inches up in December

Inflation inches up in December

The average change in prices of goods and services, measured by inflation, went up marginally to 11.8 per cent in December last year.

The rate stood at 11.7 per cent in November of the same year under review. The increase in the December rate was due to the corresponding food and non-food inflation baskets.

Other factors such as the high demand for imported goods during the yuletide also accounted for the marginal increase.

This reinforces the predictions of some economists’ predictions that the inflation might go up slightly due to the high demand for goods and services in December.

Figures from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicate that inflation has been on the decline since September 2016.

The figure has fallen from 17.2 per cent in September 2016 to 12.8 per cent in March 2017 and 11.7 per cent as of November 2017.

Factors

The acting Government Statistician, Mr Baah Wadieh, announced the December figure at a press conference in Accra yesterday.

The year-on-year non-food inflation rate for December 2017 was 13.6 per cent, same as the rate recorded in November 2017.

The year-on-year food inflation rate for December 2017 was 8.0 per cent, compared to the 7.9 per cent recorded in November 2017.

In December 2017, the year-on-year inflation rate for imported items (13.6 per cent) was 2.5 percentage points higher than that of locally produced items (11.1 per cent).

The main price drivers for the non-food inflation rate were clothing and footwear (18.8 per cent), transport (18.7 per cent), recreation and culture (17.5 per cent) and furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance (15.2 per cent).

The price drivers for the food inflation rate were vegetables (10.0 per cent) and fish and sea food (8.8 per cent).

Mr Wadieh added that four regions (Upper West, Greater Accra, Brong Ahafo and Ashanti) recorded inflation rates higher than the national average of 11.8 per cent.

The Upper West Region recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 12.8 per cent, followed by the Greater Accra Region (12.7 per cent), while the Upper East Region recorded the lowest year-on-year inflation rate of 10.2 per cent in December 2017.

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