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Ghana March producer inflation up to 23.39 percent

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The rise may herald an increase in the pace of consumer price inflation for April, as higher fuel and utility costs pull the rate up from 18-year lows reached in December.

"The respective yearly change was 23.39 percent, indicating  1.10 percentage point higher than that for February," Grace Bediako, a government statistician, said in a press release issued on Wednesday.

The main driver for the month was mining and quarrying due to increases in the price of gold, while the top year-on-year element was utilities which posted a 71.96 percent increase, according to the release.

February producer price inflation was revised to 22.29 percent from 22.32 percent.

The Bank of Ghana has left its prime policy rate unchanged at 13.5 percent since July, with analysts saying the bank could hold again at a meeting planned for next month.

Consumer price inflation dipped unexpectedly in March to 9.13 percent, interrupting steady increases since December on the back of higher energy prices.

                  

Copyright Reuters, 2011