FLASHBACK: Food prices may go up by 25% this Christmas - Food and Beverages Association

The Food and Beverages Association warned that the prices of foodstuff could increase by almost 25% in December.

"We the importers and traders alike will then have to activate our second strategy to ensure that this thing doesn’t have a real effect on the consumer because what they have done is if your import is in already and you are selling, you wouldn’t have the impact but then what it means is that you would have to go back and re-cost your products to accommodate the percentages that will come in in your next import so that you do not make a lot of losses. But this will have a real impact on the consuming public."

"It has to take immediate effect, so products and services will have to go up by 25%," he added.

Read the full story originally published on December 9, 2021, by GhanaWeb

Traders will have to adjust prices of goods and services after the reversal of the benchmark value policy

32 imported items will no longer enjoy special discounts

Government says this will increase revenue generated on imports

Prices of goods and services could skyrocket as the festive season approaches.

This comes after the removal of the 50% benchmark value on imported products in the 2022 budget.

According to the importers, the increase in freight charges, the depreciation of the cedi and the impact of COVID-19 on the local economy necessitates that the benchmark value policy be maintained.

Executive Secretary of the Food and Beverages Association, Samuel Aggrey made this disclosure in an interview on JoyNews.

"We the importers and traders alike will then have to activate our second strategy to ensure that this thing doesn’t have a real effect on the consumer because what they have done if your import is in already and you are selling, you wouldn’t have the impact but then what it means is that you would have to go back and re-cost your products to accommodate the percentages that will come in in your next import so that you do not make a lot of losses. But this will have a real impact on the consuming public."

"It has to take immediate effect, so products and services will have to go up by 25%," he added.

The Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana earlier threatened to have its members increase the price of the goods they bring into the country if the government goes through with the reversal of the 50% benchmark policy on some 32 product categories.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Revenue Authority reveals that the removal of benchmark value policy which reduced the cost of imports in general is being done to raise revenue.

Even though there has been unrest with this development among trade unions in Ghana, the Finance minister announced that the move is to safeguard local manufacturers.