AGI says manufacturers have started a gradual process towards reducing prices of goods
The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) says it is not waiting for a 60-day window to make made-in-Ghana products affordable to consumers, following recent macroeconomic improvements.
However, the Association stated that the 60-day request, made during a meeting with the Trade Minister last week, was to ensure the full implementation of a gradual process that manufacturers had started toward reducing prices.
Seth Twum-Akwaboah, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AGI, called for sustained stability in inflation, lower monetary policy rates, and exchange rates to enable local manufacturers to produce at cost-effective rates to make their goods cheaper.
“We’re not waiting for 60 days to reduce prices. What we’re saying is that by that time, the lower prices of our products will be fully reflected in the market,” Twum-Akwaboah told the Ghana News Agency on Friday.
He was responding to a question about whether the AGI would stick to a joint request with the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA) to reduce prices of goods and services within 60 days, following the cedi’s appreciation and overall macroeconomic gains.
“Our members have already started reducing prices, and manufacturing is often done within a 90-day cycle, and we’ve already completed a month. So, in the next 60 days, the new production will be based on the new exchange rate and reduced prices,” he said.
Twum-Akwaboah urged the government to sustain the cedi’s appreciation against its major trading currencies (dollar, euro, and pound sterling), reduce electricity tariffs, and lower the monetary policy rate to ease interest on loans from commercial banks.
“When the macroeconomic environment is stable, businesses can plan, expand, and employ more people,” he said.
Similarly, Dr Joseph Obeng, President of the Ghana Union of Traders’ Association (GUTA), said traders were willing to make prices of goods affordable to consumers.
“Prices have started responding, and we are duty-bound to respond to any gains, especially this particular one, which is substantial, and we have to share it with the consumer,” he said.
“All that we need is for the government to continue its good work by ensuring sustained stability,” he said, calling for reform to the Value Added Tax (VAT) to further cushion traders.
Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, Finance Minister, said earlier this month that the government was addressing structural issues like port charges, levies, and smuggling “because we understand how these factors impact prices.”
He appealed to traders to lower prices to provide relief to the consuming public amid recent easing of macroeconomic pressures.
Last Wednesday, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, Minister of Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry, engaged the leadership of AGI and GUTA on the need to reduce prices of goods and services, while pledging the government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive.
She said it was fair to enable businesses to transfer part of their dividends from macroeconomic stability to customers when the opportunity arises.
“We are all working together as a country so that the cost of living will be reduced,” she said.
