Inflation Drops To 8.5 Per cent in April

Ghana’s year-on-year inflation rate for April declined to 8.5 percent from 10.3 in March, reverting the country back to the pre-pandemic COVID-19 inflation rate, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has announced.

This represents an 18 percentage point lower than the rate recorded in March, and a month-on-month change rate of 0.6 percent, higher than the rate recorded in March.

Government Statistician, Professor K. Annim who announced this at a virtual news conference in Accra on Wednesday, indicated that the food sector drove the April inflation rate.

“April 2021 inflation was 8.5 percent.  This shows that the effect of price hikes recorded at the onset of COVID-19 was waning and inflation almost at the pre-covid rates,” he said.

The food inflation for April dropped to 6.5 percent from 10.8 percent in March, while the non-food inflation inched up from 10.2 percent to 10.0 percent in March.

Prof. Annim said food inflation was decreasing in its contribution to total inflation to 33.8 percent, the lowest contribution observed since the Consumer Price Index basket was rebased in 2018.

He said fruits and nuts recorded a negative month-on-month inflation rate of 0.4 percent with water and cocoa drinks recording no change in month-on-month inflation, with vegetables recording the highest inflation rate of 6.4 percent.

For the non-food sector, he said housing drove the sector’s contribution to inflation at 25.0 percent.

The Government Statistician stressed that inflation for locally produced goods fell to 8.7 percent in April from 11.7 percent in March this year.

However, he said inflation for imported items went to 7.4 percent in April from 6.87 percent in March.

At the regional level, Prof. Annim said the regional inflation was between 12.1 percent in Greater Accra and 2.0 percent in the Upper West Region.

Source: The Ghanaian Times