Government and policymakers have been urged to use producer price data to identify sectors facing significant cost pressures and introduce targeted measures to ease those pressures without undermining economic growth.
The recommendation forms part of the Ghana Statistical Service’s (GSS) policy response to the August 2026 Producer Price Index (PPI), which recorded a 4.4 percent year-on-year increase in producer prices.
The August rate was 0.4 percentage points higher than the 4.0 percent recorded in July, while month-on-month producer inflation increased from 2.0 percent to 2.5 percent.
According to the GSS, policymakers should use evidence from the PPI to design targeted interventions that address emerging production-cost pressures while supporting economic growth.
It said government support should be concentrated on sectors experiencing significant producer price increases, with policymakers assessing the underlying factors driving those increases.
The Statistical Service also called for continuous monitoring of producer price developments to enable government to take timely economic and sectoral policy decisions.
The latest data shows that industry, excluding construction, recorded producer inflation of 6.3 per cent in August, up from 5.6 percent in July.
Mining and quarrying was the largest contributor to the overall producer inflation rate, accounting for a 2.1 percentage point contribution to the 4.4 percent year-on-year increase.
The sector recorded year-on-year producer inflation of 4.9 percent in August, while its month-on-month rate reached 4.9 percent.
Electricity and gas also continued to record a relatively high producer inflation rate of 12.3 percent, although this represented an easing from 13.3 percent in July.
Water supply and waste recorded 10.1 per cent year-on-year producer inflation, while transport and storage recorded 6.5 percent.
In contrast, services recorded producer inflation of 1.8 percent, down from 2.5 percent in July, while construction eased from 4.8 percent to 4.5 percent.
The GSS said the PPI provides an early warning of price changes at the factory gate and can help government and the Bank of Ghana make more informed decisions on economic policy.
The latest recommendations therefore place emphasis on using sector-specific evidence rather than broad measures when responding to production-cost pressures.
The Statistical Service said timely monitoring of producer prices would help policymakers identify emerging pressures before they feed more broadly into the economy and household budgets.
