Businesses still face cost pressures despite lower inflation – GNCCI

Ghanaian businesses continue to face cost pressures despite the decline in inflation, with rising prices of locally manufactured goods indicating that the business environment has yet to fully recover, the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) has warned.

The Chamber’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Badu-Aboagye, said although business conditions had improved, the country’s single-digit inflation rate did not necessarily mean businesses were out of difficulty.

Speaking on JoyNews, he pointed to rising inflation in locally manufactured goods as evidence that businesses were still facing significant challenges.

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He said the trend showed that businesses were “still not out of the woods yet.”

Badu-Aboagye described the 2026 Budget as largely business-friendly, noting that tax relief measures had provided some support to businesses and consumers, while declining interest rates had helped ease production costs.

“Relatively, business has been good. Things are a bit better as compared to previous years,” he said.

He also credited businesses with contributing to the decline in inflation by keeping price increases relatively modest.

According to him, stability in the exchange rate had also played a significant role in easing inflationary pressures.

On regional variations in inflation, Mr Badu-Aboagye acknowledged that the national average of 5.5 per cent did not necessarily reflect the price pressures experienced by consumers across the country, as some regions continued to record higher rates.

He further argued that additional tariff relief, alongside the tax measures already introduced, could have helped reduce the cost of locally manufactured goods.

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He maintained that although businesses had experienced some improvement, further measures were needed to ease production costs and support their recovery.

DR/MA

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