Dr Philomena Nyarko
EVEN THOUGH the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has announced that the producer price index (PPI) for February 2012 was 2.06 percent, a difference of 3.12 percent from January’s figure of 5.18 percent, the price of products cannot be said to be reducing.
The producer price index (PPI) measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services. The base period for the measurement of Ghana’s PPI with reference to price indices is September 2006. This shows the producer price changes since that time, as well as the annual (year-on-year) monthly inflation rates, for all the industry and three major sub-sectors of industry- mining and quarrying, manufacturing and utilities) for the last twelve months.
Dr Philomena Nyarko, Government Statistician, who disclosed the figures for the month of February 2012, said the figures were provisional and subject to revision when additional data were available adding that all other indicators were final.
The PPI increased by 16.14 percent between February 2011 and February 2012 (year-on-year), representing an increase in producer inflation of 1.13 percentage points relative to the rate recorded in January 2012 (15.01 percent).
In February, the PPI in the mining and quarrying sector increased by 11.27 percentage points over the January rate of 27.99 percent, to record 39.26 percent. Manufacturing, which constitutes more than two-thirds of total industry, decreased marginally to 13.70 percent, from a rate of 14.34 percent in January.
The utilities sector also increased slightly by 0.10 percentage points from the January 2012 rate of 9.33 percent to record 9.43 percent in February.
During the 12-month period (February 2011 to February 2012), the all-industry inflation rate rose steadily from February 2011 (22.29 percent), peaking in April 2011 (24.29 percent). It declined between May and June, and resumed the increase until September 2011 (19.59 percent). It again declined in October 2011, increased slightly in November 2011 recording a rate of 17.28 percent, but declined to record an end of year rate of 13.65 percent.
During February, six out of the 16 major groups in the manufacturing sector recorded inflation rates higher than the sector average of 13.70 percent.
The manufacture of machinery and equipment recorded the highest inflation rate of 38.05 whilst manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers recorded the lowest rate of 0.75 percent.
The year-on-year producer inflation for all industry in February 2012 is 16.14 percent while the monthly rate is 2.06 percent.
Mining and quarrying recorded the highest year-on-year producer inflation rate of 39.26 percent; followed by manufacturing (13.70 percent). Utilities recorded the lowest rate of 9.43 percent. The monthly change rate indicated that mining and quarrying recorded the highest monthly rate of 8.29 percent, followed by manufacturing (1.14 percent) and utilities (0.15 percent).
By Samuel Boadi
