The President of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), Dr. Joseph Obeng, has expressed optimism about the recent appreciation of the Ghana cedi against the US dollar, stating that the gains should soon reflect in the pricing of goods on the market.
“I think we have gotten quite a significant gain that will start reflecting in the market soon. At least we have stability for some time before the sharp decline in the value of the dollar in favour of the Cedi,” Dr. Obeng said during an interview on TV3’s Key Points programme.
According to him, traders have an opportunity to stabilize prices if they respond wisely to the currency shift.
“If even you are a retailer, by now you should have even sold some of your goods. All that I am saying is that if you sell some of your goods and buy new ones, you strike a reasonable average so that you are not pushed out of the market,” he explained.
However, Dr. Obeng cautioned that the cedi’s strength alone won’t yield long-term relief unless other economic variables are addressed. He emphasized the need for reforms in Value Added Tax (VAT) and utility tariffs.
“The strength of the cedi alone cannot act in isolation. It should be tied up to the VAT. We need to have the VAT reforms because there is cascading effect and all that,” he noted.
He further called on the government to engage with the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in light of the cedi’s performance.
“And then there’s the utility bills and all that have gone up. Government has to sit with PURC and I don’t know if we are calling their attention because one reason they cited for the increase in the forex rates and now the dollar is depreciating.
“And so, they don’t have any reason to increase, otherwise it negates any gains that we are having and so we have to check all these things and not put it on the importer alone. We have to tie it up to all these things,” he asserted.
