The producer price index (PPI) for August 2018 recorded a sharp decline from 8.2 percent in July to 7.0 percent in August, resulting from large decreases in the mining and quarrying, and manufacturing sub-sectors.
This rate represents a 1.2 percentage point decrease in producer inflation relative to the rate recorded in July, 2018.
The PPI measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services.
Briefing the media on Wednesday in Accra, the Acting Government Statistician, Baah Wadieh observed that, “In July, compared to August, the price of gold declined and then the previous year’s base for mining was very high compared to the current year.”
The producer inflation in the Mining and Quarrying sub-sector decreased by 5.6 percentage points over the July rate of 7.5 percent to record 1.9 percent in August.
Wadieh further explained that, in the manufacturing sub-sector, the decline was due to decrease in the inflation rate of the manufacture of refined petroleum products, which was declined from 42.2 percent in July to 41.6 percent, whereas the manufacture of wood, wood products and cork declined from 3.7 percent to 2.5 percent.
He also noted that, the decline for the manufacture of refined petroleum products was also due to base drift effects. This, he added, also apply to the manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork.
Three out of the sixteen major groups in the manufacturing sub-sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 10.0 percent. Manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products with nuclear fuel recording the highest inflation rate of 41.6 percent, while Manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products recorded the lowest producer price inflation rate of -0.5 percent.
The utilities sub-sector recorded inflation of -0.2 percent in August 2018, indicating no change in inflation.
By Joshua W. Amlanu