A private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has called on Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry to work with the leadership of the Ghana Union of Traders Associations (GUTA) to ensure that its members reduce the prices of goods earlier than the sixty days period they have promised.
Mr Kpebu contends that the traders are fleecing consumers by not reducing the current prices of their wares.
His comment comes after the recent appreciation of the value of the cedi against the dollar, which is currently about GHC12 to $1.
This has resulted in calls for traders to reduce the prices of their wares.
GUTA’s leadership responded by saying that they would require some time to exhaust all their old stock before prices can be reduced.
But speaking on TV3’s KeyPoints on May 17, Mr Kpebu said the Oil Marketing Companies have reduced the prices of fuel at the pumps so the traders should follow suit
“GUTA, let’s come down. The prices stay where they are, and the fleecing of the consumer continues because government is not tough on traders. Citizens too are not that empowered and enlightened to act to get traders to do the needful,” he said.
He therefore urged the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare to intervene.
“The point is that, sometimes government too can push. I heard the Trade Minister, she was being diplomatic. She said government has no control over the traders. That’s true- Free market economy. But it gets to a point where the traders are fleecing us too much. We should do something to reign them in,” he suggested
It is recalled that on May 14, the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry and various trade associations reached an agreement to significantly reduce the prices of finished goods over the next two months, provided the Ghana Cedi maintains its favorable performance against the US dollar and other major international currencies.
Following the discussion, Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare announced the positive outcome, stating that the participating associations have agreed to implement price reductions.
She clarified the government’s role in the process, stating, “We have indicated that we do not have the power to reduce prices but all that we have as government is to negotiate to get the traders to bring down prices.”
The Minister was pleased to report that some direct importers have already initiated price reductions, with others also committing to follow suit.
“So, we expect this to be reflected in the retail market soon,” she noted.
The post Rise of the cedi: Gov’t must step in if traders don’t reduce prices – Kpebu first appeared on 3News.
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