Ghana’s inflation recorded for the month of January 2020, dropped to 7.8 percent, the second consecutive month a drop has occurred.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service, the year-on-year average movement of prices of goods and services fell marginally from 7.9 percent in December 2019.
Announcing the figures on Wednesday, February 12, 2020, Prof. Samuel Annim, Government Statistician explained that Alcoholic Beverages, Tobacco and Narcotics (11.1 percent), Transport (10.5 percent) and Recreation (9 percent) were the divisions with the highest rates of inflation.
Of the food items, fruits and nuts as well as vegetables and sea food items recorded high interest rates either month-on-month or year-on-year.
“We observed stack variations for some particular items like fruits and nuts; from a year on year perspective, they recorded 15 percent inflation rate. Also, vegetables and other sea food items which recorded the highest month on month inflation, recorded the 5th and 8th inflation rate from a year on year perspective,” he explained.
Professor Annim also alluded to the impact of the cost of locally produced goods compared to imported ones on the inflation rate; a development he attributed to the cedi’s depreciation, and how that affects the cost of imports and the cost of production by local manufacturers.
At the regional level, the Central Region recorded the highest inflation rate of 10 percent with the Ashanti Region recording the lowest inflation rate of 5.6 percent.
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