<<Print>>

The year-on year inflation rate for September rose to 16.5 per cent up from the 15.9 percent recorded in August 2014, the Ghana Statistical Service said on Wednesday. The September rate of 16.5 per cent is the highest since March 2010. The monthly change rate for September 2014 was -0.2 per cent, the same as recorded for August. Dr Philomena Nyarko, Government Statistician, said the year-on-year non-food inflation rate inches up to 24.1 per cent in September compared to the 24 percent recorded for August. The year-on-year food inflation rate for September was 5.8 per cent, which is 0.7 percentage point higher than the 5.1 per cent recorded in August.�The year-on-year non-food inflation rate of 24.1 per cent is about four times as high as the food inflation rate of 5.8 per cent,� she said. Dr Nyarko said the year-on-year inflation rate for imported items during September was 23.4 per cent, which is about one and half times higher than the inflation rate for locally produced items (13.9%). The main �price drivers� for the non-food inflation rate were Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels, which was at 63.5 per cent and Transport at 27.1 per cent.The �price drivers� for the food inflation rate were Mineral water, soft drinks, fruit juices, Coffee, tea and cocoa, Milk, cheese and eggs, food products, Sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery.The Central Region recorded the highest regional year-on-year inflation rate of 18.5 per cent while the Upper West Region recorded the lowest inflation rate of 10.9 per cent. Seven regions (Central, Upper East, Northern, Eastern, Greater Accra, Ashanti and Western) recorded inflation rates above the national average of 16.5 per cent. Economists generally describe inflation as the percentage change in the value of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) on a year-on year basis. It measures the change in the prices of a basket of goods and services in a year. Inflation is said to occur when there is an imbalance between demand and supply of money, changes in production and distribution cost or increase in taxes on products.