FOR THE first time in 5 years, Ghana’s inflation reduced to single digits for April this year.
The inflation rate for April dropped to 9.6% from the 10.4% recorded in March 2018 recording the lowest since January 2013.
The monthly change rate in April 2018 was 0.9 percent compared to 1.1 percent recorded in March 2018.
The year-on-year non-food inflation rate for April 2018 was 10.6 percent compared to the rate of 11.8 percent recorded in March 2018.
The year-on-year food inflation rate for April 2018 was 7.4 percent compared to 7.3 percent recorded in March 2018.
The year-on-year non-food inflation rate (10.6 percent) is almost one and half times that of the food inflation rate (7.4 percent).
In April 2018, the year-on-year inflation rate for imported items (12.0 percent) was 3.5 percentage points higher than that of locally produced items (8.5 percent).
The main “price drivers” for the non-food inflation rate were clothing and footwear (17.2 percent), recreation and culture (13.6 percent), furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance (13.0 percent) and miscellaneous goods and services (12.3 percent).
The “price drivers” for the food inflation rate were coffee, tea and cocoa (10.5 percent), fruits (9.8 percent), meat and meat products (8.8 percent), mineral water, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices (8.8 percent), food products n.e.c (8.5 percent) and vegetables (7.9 percent).
Five regions- Upper West, Brong Ahafo, Western, Northern and Ashanti- recorded inflation rates higher than the national average of 9.6 percent.
Upper West Region recorded the highest year-on-year inflation rate of 11.7 percent, followed by Brong Ahafo Region (10.7 percent), while the Upper East Region recorded the lowest year-on-year inflation (8.2 percent) in April 2018.
The April 2018 rate of 9.6 percent is the lowest since January 2013.