It said monthly producer inflation rate jumped from 0.4 per cent in March to 2.8 per cent in April.

The GSS said the producer inflation rate for the services sector rose marginally to 18.4 per cent in April from 18.2 per cent in March.

For the industry, the GSS stated that the producer inflation increased to 43.9 per cent in April from 41.1 per cent in March.

It said the producer price inflation rate for the construction sector increased by more than two percentage points to 20.9 in April from 18.5 per cent in March.

The GSS data indicated that the April producer price inflation was driven by mining and quarrying and electricity and gas, which recorded producer inflation rate above the national aver­age of 43.9 per cent.

Mining and quarrying in April recorded inflation rate of 45.1 per cent in April from 36.2 per cent in March.

Electricity and gas also recorded producer inflation rate of 59.0 per cent in April from 57.5 per cent in March.

Producer price inflation for transport and storage fell to 58.9 per cent in April from 59.4 per cent in March, and accommodation and food service activities also dropped to 51.1 per cent in April, from 54.5 per cent in March.

On the other hand, manufacturing, water and sewerage and waste man­agement, construction and Information and Commu­nication recorded producer inflation below the national average.

The producer price inflation rate for manu­facturing fell to 41.4 per cent in April from 46.0 per cent in March, water supply, sewerage and waste management in April stood at 33.4 per cent same as the rate recorded in March, and that of construction stood at 20.9 in April from 18.5 per cent in March.

Information and Com­munication Technology recorded producer price inflation rate of 11.8 per cent in April from 11.3 per cent in March.