Ghana producer price inflation dips to 3.6 percent in June

Ghana's producer price inflation fell slightly to 3.6 percent year-on-year in June from 3.7 percent the month before, mainly due to lower gold prices, the statistics office said on Wednesday.

Ghana, Africa's second biggest gold producer, is more than halfway through a three-year aid deal with the International Monetary Fund to restore fiscal balance, including reducing persistently high inflation.

Mining and quarrying inflation declined to 12 percent from 18.2 percent in May while the manufacturing sub-sector also decreased to 2.4 percent from 2.9 percent. Utilities' inflation was 1.3 percent compared to 1.2 percent the month before.

"The push-down effect was primarily on account of lower ex-factory prices of gold in June, compared to similar period last year," government statistician Baah Wadieh told reporters in Accra.

Ghana was for years one of Africa's fastest growing economies but growth slumped in 2014 due to a fall in global commodities prices and fiscal problems including elevated inflation, a high budget deficit and public debt.

On Monday, the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 150 basis points to 21 percent, citing a downward trend in inflation towards medium-term targets and potentials for growth on increasing oil resources.