By Christopher Tetteh
Sunyani, (Bono), May 14, GNA – The Business community in Sunyani, the Boono Regional capital has advocated a national price control on goods and services, as the Ghana cedi gains strength.
That according to the traders within the Sunyani Central Business District (CBD) would greatly help the appreciation of the cedi to reflect on prices of commodities and thereby alleviate the plight of the ordinary citizenry.
During a Ghana News Agency (GNA) market survey at the CBD, the businesses including market women and petty traders, as well as shop and store owners however commended the government for the appreciation of the cedis.
They said they anticipated that the government implemented good monetary policies to stabilise the economy too.
Mr Ransford Yeboah-Asuamah, the General Manager of the Pribet Shopping Mat, one of the biggest shopping malls in the enclave, noted though the US dollar had seen a marginal depreciation, prices of basic food items, goods and service remained stably high.
“In fact, the price of basic food items and cloths as well as other consumable is still high and something ought to be done to control the price and cost of items”, he stated.
Mr Yeboah-Asuamah expressed concern about the politicization of market pricing for goods and services, saying “we must avoid the unhealthy partisan politics and rather speak on the realities in the market”.
Nana Kwabena Fori II, the Chief Executive Officer of the Stephen Materials, said he was highly optimistic that the way things were going the cedi would appreciate competitively matched with the dollar rate to spur rapid economic growth and development.
“If prices of goods and services reduce that will better the socioeconomic livelihoods of the people”, he stated, and commended the government.
For Mr Edward Mensah, a taxi driver, businesses ought to adjust their prices to reflect the dollar and the cedi rates, urging for a nationwide price control on goods and services.
He also lauded the decrease in prices of petroleum products, however called on the government to ensure that the price of spare parts as well as lorry fares decrease correspondingly.
GNA
DEN/KOA