Convene emergency meeting on cedi fall – GUTA

The Joint Private Sector Business Consultative Forum, which includes the Ghana Union Traders Association (GUTA), has asked government to convene an emergency meeting on the falling Cedi.

The call was made during a meeting of the forum last weekend in Accra in reaction to the fast depreciation of Cedi against major foreign currencies.

A statement issued by the forum wondered whether the country was on the verge of an economic meltdown as it happened in Greece and other countries.

If the situation is the result of the implementation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme, then government should immediately opt out of the programme,” it said.

The forum advised government to engage all relevant stakeholders to deliberate on the way forward for Ghana.

The forum will meet again on Tuesday, June 30 2015, an engagement which is expected to be graced by all unions which are members of the Joint Private Sector Business Consultative Forum.

The meeting will deliberate on the next line of action in response to rapid depreciation of the Cedi against major foreign currencies.

Seventy percent of the businesses of members of the forum, the statement said, are on the verge of collapsing by the end of October due to the negative impact of the depreciation of the Cedi on their operations.

According to them, the Cedi, which started 2014 at GH¢2.2 to the dollar is now selling for GH¢4.4, representing over a 100% depreciation.

Owing to the development, traders are said to be pressurizing the leadership of the Joint Sector Business Consultative Forum to develop a formula that can be used to determine the prices of goods to reflect the rate of depreciation as is done by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), the Ghana Private Roads Transport Union (GPRTU) and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GHPOHA).

“The position of the business community is that once other institutions are using a formula to determine their charges and prices, it will not be out place for the Joint Private Sector Business Consultative Forum to also adopt a similar formula,” the statement said.