Producer price inflation rises for 5th straight month; July rate 29.1%

Producer price inflation rose to 29.1% in July, up from 25.9% in June according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) release by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). This means that producers saw an average increase of 29.1% in the prices of their output compared to July 2023. This is the fifth straight month of increase since a reduction was recorded in February 2024. On a monthly basis, the producer price inflation was up 3.2% compared to June 2024.

The Industry sector led the way with inflation of 37.9%, followed by Construction with 30.5%, and Services with 12.6%. In the sub-sectors Mining and Quarrying saw the highest inflation with 48.8%, followed by Accomodation and Food Service Activities (28.3%), and Transportation and Storage (26.8%). The lowest inflation was recorded in Waste Supply, Sewerage, and Waste Management (2.6%), Information and Communication (9.3%), and Electricity and Gas (11.8%).

Producer prices sometime can be a leading indicator of consumer prices as an increased cost of production can eventually reflect in prices consumers pay in the market. While consumer inflation decreased for the fourth consecutive month in July 2024, the ongoing rise in producer prices may deter the Bank of Ghana (BoG) from lowering the policy rate, which currently stands at 29%

Source: ceditalk.com