Implement measures to stop the drastic depreciation of the cedi – GUTA appeals to government
Issues regarding the economy have started biting really hard as the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA) have also appealed to the government to as a matter of urgency institute measures to arrest the depreciating cedi.
They bemoaned that, the downward trend of the economy and the cedi depreciating against the dollar is affecting their businesses leading to more economic hardships.
Vice President of GUTA, Clement Boateng suggested some solutions to be considered by the government in addressing the problem.
“Everything that we do is benchmarked on the dollar and we think the government must do something about the situation. If we talk about the telcos, the oil and extractive sectors, at the end of the year, they are repatriating their profits back, and you can see the chunk of monies they take from here so the government must look at its investment laws,” he said.
Currently, the Ghana cedi has been under serious stress depreciating against major trading currencies including the US dollar.
Between January and March 2022, the currency has lost more than 14% of its value, a very significant drop compared to previous changes.
The situation has resulted in the rising cost of products in the country including cement and fuel.
The government, however, is yet to make any direct pronouncement on measures it is taking to tackle the problem, although various stakeholders have been making some suggestions.
Meanwhile, Dr Humphrey Ayim-Darke, President of the Association of Ghana Industries believes moves to reduce the import of finished goods will be in the best interest of the cedi, which continues to fall to the dollar.
He blamed traders importing finished goods for contributing to the struggles of the cedi.
“They put pressure on the exchange rate because they demand it for finished products…. By virtue of their deeds, bringing only finished products, if you look at the value chain of value addition, it is limited…They don’t create enough jobs and the turnaround of their funds in the value chain is short. When you bring in raw materials, the value chain is longer,” he said.
