Consumer Inflation stays at 7.8% for March
For an eighth consecutive month, since the rebasing of the consumer inflation index, food inflation has been the predominant driver of year-on-year (y-o-y) inflation.
Overall, the consumer inflation for March 2020 (y-o-y) remained flat at 7.8 percent for a third consecutive month. But the food and non-alcoholic beverages division recorded an inflation rate of 8.4 percent, y-o-y for March. This is 0.5 percentage points higher than the outcome for February and indeed is the highest food inflation since the rebasing in August 2019.
The latest data released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicates that even though there are four divisions with higher inflation rates, due to its relative importance in computation of consumer price inflation – food and beverages accounts for nearly half of the weighted basket – food has been the main driver for the last eight months. Conversely, over the last six months, transportation has become a less important contributor to the CPI.
On a monthly basis, between February 2020 and March 2020, the price level of food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 1.5 percent. Just as for the previous month, this rise was predominantly driven by an increase in price levels of Vegetables and Fruits and Nuts.
Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, Government Statistician, Ghana Statistical Service (GSS)
“March 2020 inflation was 7.8 percent. This continued the trend of a stable inflation of about 8 percent recorded over the past seven months,” Prof. Samuel Kobina Annim, Government Statistician said in a statement.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures proportionate changes in the prices of a fixed basket of goods and services that households in Ghana consume.
National non-food inflation for March 2020 (y-o-y) was 7.4 per cent, lower than the 7.7 percent recorded in February 2020.
“Ghana saw a continued faster increase of prices of locally produced items at 8.8 percent, than of imported goods at 5.6 percent,” the Government Statistician said. This is the highest rate of local goods inflation and the lowest rate of imported goods inflation since the rebasing in August 2019. The trend reflects relative exchange rate stability but increasing pressure on local supply chains.
Regional Inflation
“Households in the Volta Region saw the highest price increase at 9.2 percent, while households in the Upper West Region only experienced a 3.5 percent inflation compared to last year,” Prof. Kobina Annim said.
Greater Accra experience the lowest regional inflation since the rebasing in August 2019.
