Withdrawal of FX support : Ghanaians will benefit in the long term - Economist

An economist and political scientist, Prof. John Osei Bobbie, has stated that although in the short term Ghanaians will suffer the withdrawal of foreign exchange support to importers, in the long term Ghanaians will benefit from it.

The Bank of Ghana has withdrawn foreign exchange support to customers for the importation of certain non-critical or essential goods.

According to reports, the withdrawal of the FX support for the importation of these non-essential goods took effect in the past three weeks.

The goods affected include rice, poultry, vegetable oils, toothpicks, pasta, fruit juice, bottled water and ceramic tiles.

An electronic message from the Bank of Ghana stated that, “in accordance with the President’s directive issued at his recent address to the nation on the Ghanaian economy, on Sunday 30th October 2022, the Bank of Ghana will no longer provide FX support for the imports of rice, poultry, vegetable oils, toothpicks, pasta, fruit juice, bottled water, ceramic tiles and other non-critical goods. Please be advised and act accordingly”.

Speaking on Atinka TV‘s morning show, Ghana Nie with Ekourba Gyasi Simpremu, Prof John Osei Bobbie said, “In the short term, everyone will suffer. It will not be surprising that the prices of these goods will shoot up. However, in the long term, Ghanaians stand to benefit because Ghanaians have called for this for a long time.”

He continued that, “When you look at the items, most of them are produced here in Ghana, especially tiles but someone will go and import tiles. When you look at the way Ghana has developed its technology, the tiles made here are equally good but people will still insist that they want tiles made from outside the country.

Touching on the support by the government, he said although individuals import their own goods, the government supports them by making provision for the acquisition of the dollars they can use to import those goods.

Aside from that, Prof John Osei Bobbie said the government supports the importers with certification to authenticate their business.