SARPONG'S BLOG

By Fred Sarpong The total value of goods and services produced in the fourth quarter of 2012 was GH¢8,424.1 million, compared to GH¢7,945.0 million recorded in the corresponding period in 2011. This is according to figures released in Accra last week by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). This represents 6.0% Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for the fourth quarter of 2012, as against 1.2% in the previous year’s last quarter, all the sectors of the economy, contributed to this growth were- Agriculture, Industry and Services. The acting Government Statistician, Dr. Philomena Nyarko, who announced this in Accra, last week, said during the period Agriculture recorded a total value of GH¢2,319.1 million, as compared to GH¢2,301.4 million in fourth quarter of 2011. This represents 0.6% growth. The industry sector had 3.6% growth, recording a value of GH¢1,915.8 million as against GH¢1,987.0 million in 2011 fourth quarter. The services sector recorded 13.7% GDP growth wi...

By Fred Sarpong The year-on-year inflation rate for March 2013 was 10.4%, up from 10% recorded in February, this year. This is the highest since June 2010. This inflation is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This means that the general price level went up by 10.4% over the one year period from March 2012 to March 2013. The monthly change rate for March 2013 was 1.7%. This means that the general price level went up by 1.7% for the one month period between February 2013 and March 2013. The monthly rate for February 2013 was 2.6%. Dr. Philomena Nyarko, the acting Government Statistician announced this to the media in Accra last week. She stated that the year-on-year non-food inflation rate was 13.2%. The rate for February 2013 was 12.6%. The year-on-year food inflation rate was 5.5%, up from 5.3% rate recorded for February 2013. Thus year-on-year non-food inflation rate was about two and a half times that of the food inflation rate. She indicated that the mai...

By Fred Sarpong About 26,086,795 mobile lines have been registered in Ghana, according to the National Communications Authority (NCA), the regulator of the telecom industry as at the end of January 2013. Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN), Vodafone, Tigo, Airtel, Glo and Expresso were the mobile companies contributed to the total figure of 26,086,795. According to NCA figures, MTN is still dominates the industry and has maintained its position as the market leader with a subscriber base of 11,857,772, representing 45.45% of total mobile lines in Ghana. Vodafone Ghana is the second largest mobile operator in Ghana, with subscriber lines of 5,423,932, which represents 20.69% of total mobile lines. Milicom Ghana, the operators of Tigo mobile had a subscriber base 3,669,472, which represents 14.07% of the market, while Airtel increased its subscriber base to 3,273,048 representing 12.55% of the total market share. Glo mobile also increased its current subscriber bas...