The annual Producer Price Index (PPI) rose to 27.69 per cent in December 2009, representing 7.33 percentage points higher than that of November 2009, the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) announced on Wednesday.

The figure for November 2009 was 20.36 per cent. Mr. Magnus Ebo Duncan, Head of Economics and Statistics at GSS, who announced the figures at a press conference in Accra explained that the rise was due to the increasing demand for the products, especially gold, on the world market.

On specific industry basis, the mining and quarrying sector which controls 13.97 per cent shares of all industry, recorded the highest

inflation rate of 63.99 per cent as against the 27.44 per cent rate by the manufacturing sector which controls 69.75 per cent of all industry share.

The utilities sector recorded the least figure closing at 0.88 per cent.

Mr. Duncan said the relatively stable nature of the utilities sector accounted for its recording of the least inflation rate.

Source: GNA