Prices of goods in Ghana have generally reduced, and traders who refuse to adjust their prices are only hurting themselves, President of the Ghana Union of Traders\u2019 Associations (GUTA), Clement Boateng, has said.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Joy News\u2019 PM Express on Monday, Mr Boateng said the cedi\u2019s appreciation has created gains for the business community, and those gains must be passed on to consumers.<\/p>\n
He criticised what he described as a deliberate refusal by some traders to reduce prices, even as input costs have fallen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see the action of not wanting to reduce prices as a deliberate issue,\u201d he said, arguing that some people refuse to adjust prices \u201cirrespective of the fact that the commodity, some of the commodity, commodities that he\u2019s using\u2026 has gone down.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to him, the problem goes beyond business decisions and reflects an attitude in the marketplace.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I see that as an attitude of some of Ghanaians that, irrespective of whatever situation that we find ourselves, we will not let our compatriots also enjoy the gains that we have made,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Mr Boateng maintained that the cedi’s appreciation is no longer in doubt and has been sustained for some time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an undeniable fact that the cedi has appreciated for quite some time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that the business community has benefited, and it is only fair that consumers also see relief in their prices.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe business community has made some gains. So definitely, the gains that we have made, we are supposed to also pass it on to the consumer, for the consumer to also enjoy a bit of what has happened in the marketplace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When asked directly by the host whether that had happened, the GUTA President was emphatic. \u201cIt has happened across the board. Yes, across board,\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n
However, he admitted there are exceptions, describing them as \u201cbad nuts in every community.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople have made up their mind that they will not reduce their prices,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But Mr Boateng warned that such traders operate in a competitive environment where refusing to reduce prices can backfire.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I pity those people, because the market that we are in is a very, very competitive market,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He explained that most businesses rely on credit facilities and turnover, meaning traders cannot afford to hold goods while others sell quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe business that we do, we use facilities in doing the business, and businesses thrive on turnover,\u201d he noted.He cautioned that any trader who insists on keeping prices high will lose customers to competitors who sell faster and restock more quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if you sit behind your goods\u2026 and you will say, you will not reduce it for the consumer\u2026 you do so at your own expense,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour neighbour will sell fast and then bring in more goods to make the turnover that he wants, and his business will thrive, and then you will sit beside your goods, and will not make any sales,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Mr Boateng said the broader evidence of falling prices is also evident in the direction of inflation.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I can tell you for a fact that generally, prices have gone down. And that is why inflation also seems to be going down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
To explain his point, the GUTA President defined inflation as the purchasing power of money.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does inflation mean? Inflation simply means having a purchasing value of your money on either goods or services,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
And on the key issue of prices, he concluded with a firm conclusion: \u201cI can tell you clearly that, if you want to talk about prices of goods\u2026 prices of goods\u2026 have generally come down.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Prices of goods in Ghana have generally reduced, and traders who refuse to adjust their prices are only hurting themselves, President of the Ghana Union of Traders\u2019 Associations (GUTA), Clement Boateng, has said. Speaking on Joy News\u2019 PM Express on Monday, Mr Boateng said the cedi\u2019s appreciation has created gains for the business community, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123457,"featured_media":15528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3525,41],"tags":[1577,4901],"class_list":["post-15527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-general-news","tag-guta","tag-clement-boateng"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/123457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15529,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15527\/revisions\/15529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fishfmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}