Ghana inflation rate rises to 16.6% in March

The year-on-year inflation rate stood at 16.6 per cent in January, up by 0.1 percentage points from 16.5 per cent recorded in February, the Ghana Statistical Service announced on Wednesday.

Mr Baah Wadieh, the Deputy Government Statistician, who announced this at a media briefing in Accra on Wednesday, said the monthly change rate for March was 1.0 per cent, compared to 1.2 per cent recorded for February 2015.

Mr Wadieh said the food inflation rate for March was 7.2 per cent compared with 7.0 per cent in February.

The non-food inflation rate for March stood at 23.1 per cent, up marginally from 23.0 per cent recorded in February.

“The year-on-year non-food inflation rate is more than three times higher than the food inflation rate,” Mr Wadieh said, adding that inflation rate for imported items which was 21.3 per cent is about one and half times higher than the inflation rate for locally produced items at 14.9 per cent.

He said the main drivers for the non-food inflation rate were housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which stood at 26.2 per cent and transport at 25.8 per cent.

The price drivers for the food inflation rate were coffee, tea and cocoa, mineral water, soft drinks, fruits and vegetable juices, among others.

The Central Region recorded the highest regional year-on-year inflation rate of 19.2 per cent, while the Brong-Ahafo Region recorded the lowest of 14.3 per cent.

Three regions, namely, the Central, Volta and Ashanti recorded inflation rates above the national average of 16.6 per cent.
Source: GNA