ACCRA: Ghana’s producer price inflation rose sharply to 16.3 percent in January from a revised figure of 11.0 percent the month before, pushed up mainly by an increase in petroleum prices, the statistics office said on Wednesday.
The West African country is following a three-year International Monetary Fund aid programme to address macro-economic problems that include high budget deficits and consumer inflation persistently above government targets. The government announced a 27 percent hike in petroleum prices in early January as part of an effort to recover costs and clear debts to the country’s oil refinery.
“The sharp increase recorded in the producer inflation for all industry in January was mainly driven by the manufacturing sector, influenced heavily by the petroleum price increases,” government statistician Philomena Nyarko told a news conference.
Manufacturing recorded the highest change rate of 4.3 percent to 11.4 percent year-on-year, while mining and quarrying declined by 1.9 percent to 2.9 percent. Producer inflation for utilities remained unchanged at 56.6 percent year-on-year.
Ghana produces gold, cocoa and oil. Growth, which increased sharply for years, has slumped due to lower global commodity prices, the macro economic crisis and a power shortage.
