Accra, Aug. 10, GNA- The annual rate of inflation dropped 0.6 percentage points from 10.7 per cent in June to 10.1 per cent in July, the Deputy Government Statistician, Professor Nicholas Nuamah-Nsowah announced on Friday.

At a press briefing to release the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the month, Prof. Nuamah-Nsowah said given the trend in the rate of inflation there was strong indication that a single-digit inflation could be within reach, unless there was a drastic change in current government policy and strong influence of exogenous factors. Government has projected in the 2007 budget an annual inflation target of 8.8 per cent.

Prof. Nuamah-Nsowah attributed the fall in the rate to stable food prices over the period.

The monthly rate of inflation between June and July was 1.2 per cent. The Food and Beverages group contributed 1.15 points to the change in the national index while the non-food groups together contributed 1.41 points.

Within the food and beverages group, fish recorded the highest upward movement of 0.72 points to the change in the national index. The vegetables group had 0.19 points and plantain 0.22 points and yam 0.52 points were the largest positive contributors. Within the non-food group, health 0.55 points contributed the highest followed by clothing and footwear and furnishing household equipment and routine maintenance with 0.6 points each.

The housing, water, electricity, gas and other utilities group had 0.21 points.

Prof Nuamah-Nsowah said none of the non-food groups had a negative effect on the change in the national index while education and communication groups did not contribute anything to the change in the index.

On regional basis, four regions - Western, Volta, Brong Ahafo, and Northern recorded single-digit inflation, with the Western region having the lowest of 5.7 per cent due mainly to very low price changes in food and non-alcoholic beverages.

The Greater Accra Region recorded the highest inflation rate of 14.7 per cent followed by eastern region with 12.9 per cent. The high rate of inflation in the Greater Accra Region was caused by the food and non-alcoholic beverages, which went up by 21.6 per cent.

The CPI and inflation are published monthly using the Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) while the old series are published using the Central Product Classification (CPC).