GUTA pleads for price reduction

The Union of Traders' Associations of Ghana (GUTA) has urged its members to lower product prices in order to bring benefits to consumers.

The Association's appeal is justified by the members' willingness to pbad on the benefits of the government's decision to reduce the reference value of the imported goods as well as the reduction in the calculated value of the vehicles in the ports.

On the basis of constant calls from the business community for a reduction in import duties, the government announced in April 2019 a reduction of 50% of the reference value of imported products and 30% the calculated value of the vehicles.

The announcement of the reduction was made at a public meeting organized by the Economic Management Team, chaired by Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia in April 2019.

The Veep said the initiative was aimed at ensuring that larger volumes of imported products in the subregion pbad through Ghana rather than its neighbors.

The decision to reduce the reference value for imports, according to Bawumia, was part of the reforms undertaken in the country's ports to reduce the incidence of smuggling in ports, strengthen revenue mobilization and make the ports of Ghana competitive.

Explaining that he worked successfully after three months with the Ghana Revenue Authority's (GRA) customs division, on most terms relating to different product lines and still working on the few remaining products, a further reduction is timely.

In a statement dated July 16, 2019, GUTA urges all importers to share the benefits of the discount with the consumer.

The statement also said: "We also expect prices to fall further, especially if the exchange rate remains stable. Keeping in mind that competition is the best price determinant on the market. "

In fact, in the opinion of the Association, the reference reduction encouraged companies to import, especially items that until now were difficult to import into the country because of the high tariffs that make their imports difficult. uncompetitive price.

"The gain resulting from the reduction so far has allowed most companies to transfer to the consumer some of the benefits of price reduction, ranging from 10% to 15%," said GUTA.