Cedi depreciation making it difficult to reduce prices – Traders

Chairman of the Kumasi Petty Traders Association in the Ashanti Region, Nana Akwasi Prempeh, has said the fluctuation of the Ghana cedi to the dollar and the CFA is making it difficult for them to reduce the prices of their commodities.

Following the appreciation of the Ghana cedi to the dollar, some Ghanaians, including President Akufo-Addo, asked traders to reduce the prices of their commodities but to no avail.

Although Nana Prempeh said they have reduced the prices of foodstuffs after transportation fares were reduced, he said uncertainty in the CFA and the dollar is making it difficult to reduce the prices of imported goods.

He was speaking in an interview with Class 91.3 FM’s Elisha Adarkwah on Friday, December 23, 2022, when the traders at the New Kumasi Kejetia Market donated some assorted items to six orphanage homes, Kumasi Central Prison, and 150 widows as part of the Christmas celebration.

Nana Prempeh explained the decision to reduce the prices of commodities can only be brought down if the cedi to the dollar as well as the CFA becomes stable.

He was quick to add that the two main foreign trading currencies have started appreciating against the cedi.

He also refuted the claims that they are sabotaging the government by not reducing the price of their commodities.

For her part, the Ntoma Hemaa of the Ashanti Region, Nana Yaa Boadu, said they cannot reduce the price of their goods because of the current appreciation of the CFA to the cedi.