Inflation inches up to 9.4%

INFLATION rose from 9.3 per cent in May 2012 to 9.4 per cent in June this year, representing an increase of 0.01 per cent.
This is the fifth time that yearly inflation has consistently gone up, driven mainly by the depreciation of the cedi and poor harvests resulting from the seasonal nature of the agricultural sector.
The rise in June’s inflation over the May one was mainly as a result of upward pressure from the food and non-food groups on the inflation basket.
Inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) , is the average change over time in the general price level of goods and services in the country.
The monthly inflation  for June – comparing inflation for June 2012 to that of May 2012 –  however dropped to 1.4 per cent from the May figure of 2.0 per cent.
The acting Deputy Government Statistician, Mr Kofi Agyeman- Duah, said at a news conference in Accra that inflation in the food and non-alcoholic beverages group was 5.4 per cent, slightly higher than the 5.0 per cent that was recorded in May this year.
Seven sub-groups in the food and non-alcoholic beverages group recorded inflation rates above the group’s average inflation rate
The non-food group recorded a year-on-year inflation rate of 11.9 per cent.
The Upper East and Upper West regions recorded the lowest inflation rate of 5.1 per cent in June with the Central Region recording the highest regional rate of 12.2 per cent for June.
The Central, Ashanti and Greater Accra regions recorded inflation rates above the national inflation rate of  9.4 per cent.
Responding to concerns on the tendency of the inflation figure to decrease after June, he said although that was a seasonal phenomenon it depended largely on  production output especially, from the food group.
He said although harvest was expected to increase from July, figures from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture  would give the signal adding that “if harvest is good we do not expect any difference.”