Story: Abdul Aziz
INFLATION rate for the first quarter of the year is still high, especially for non-food items, Dr Grace Bediako, Government
Statistician, has observed.
She explained that if the inflation rate on non-food items were higher than that of food items then it meant that food was more within the control of Ghana.
Dr Bediako, who was presenting the Consumer Price Index (CPI) compiled by the Ghana Statistical Service for the first quarter of the year, said major non-food contributors to inflation in the first quarter were the transport sector, hotels and restaurant, housing and household appliances.
She said the food items that were drivers of high inflation rate for the first quarter included oils and fats, coffee, tea, cocoa and cereals.
The Government Statistician said the major food items were not among the major groups that drove the inflation rate because the southern sector of the country had started harvesting food crops.
She said Eastern Region was the only region that recorded a decline in inflation rate, a situation which she said was the result of the fact that the harvest season had started in the region.
She said for the month of April, the Northern Region recorded the highest inflation rate and this could be attributed to the fact that the northern sector was at the peak of its lean season.
Dr Bediako said apart from the local drivers of inflation, global inflation trends had also contributed to high inflation and its impact, which was expected to drop at this period of the year.
She said the CPI also revealed that inflation rate for the rural areas was higher than the urban inflation rate and was quick to add that transport alone could not be blamed, since more than one factor could have conspired to make the rural areas the hardest hit.
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