Reduce duty fees, other charges to address price stability – GUTA to government

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has called on the government to adopt urgent measures aimed at reducing the cost of duty fees and other charges to help stabilize the price of goods and services in the country.

The said fees include transportation costs, shipping line charges, and utility tariff regimes as GUTA believes these fees have significantly impeded the ease of doing business.

In a statement issued by the Union on January 8, 2024, it clarified that the trade body does not have control over pricing in a liberalized economy, as businesses have always been allowed to have autonomy to determine the prices of their goods and services.

“We want to state emphatically that the business community does not take delight in arbitrary increases in the prices of goods and services and that prices are usually determined by accumulation of cost of doing business, which members of the business community have been complaining bitterly about all these years,” GUTA clarified.

“The surest way to reduce and stabilize price of goods and services is for policymakers to prune the cost of doing business in the country, in terms of the duty we pay, fees and charges including shipping line charges, transportation, the increase in utility tariffs and more,” it added.

GUTA further called on the government and policy makers to address the high cost of doing business in the country as part of efforts to address general price stability.

Read the full statement below:

MA/NOQ

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