Govt To Maintain Forex Rate At Ports – Deputy Trade Minister
Deputy Trade Minister, Michael Okyere Baafi, has announced that a fixed exchange rate would be maintained at the country’s ports for the next three months to bring some relief to importers.
According to him, the government has decided to keep the dollar rate at the same level as the Bank of Ghana’s interbank rate at all the ports.
Mr. Okyere Baafi made the announcement following a protest by the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) over Ghana’s forex challenges.
The Deputy Minister said the arrangement was a “concession” to the traders explaining that the goal was to “make them very comfortable in business.”
He was speaking during the grant contract signing ceremony of the sectoral expansion of the COVID-19 response grant programme.
The fixed exchange rate is expected to provide better certainty for importers and help the government maintain low inflation.
The dollar is currently trading for over GH¢13 to the dollar, a situation the traders have lamented that is negatively affecting their businesses as it balloons the cost of importation and erodes their capital.
The cedi has depreciated significantly in recent months and at the beginning of the week, the cedi was noted as the world’s worst-performing currency.
That took its losses this year to more than 45 percent.
The forex challenges prompted the protest by traders, who planned to lock their shops for six days.
GUTA Demands Immediate Implementation
Meanwhile, GUTA has indicated that it expects the government to, as soon as possible, begin the implementation of its proposed measures to check the constant hike in port duties in the country.
GUTA President, Dr. Joseph Obeng, stated that it was “very welcoming … for which we are very grateful.”
Despite lauding the move, Dr. Obeng stressed that they wanted “Firm assurances. We want to see it working and that’s what makes us keep talking about it.”
He emphasised that adopting government initiatives will greatly enhance the fortunes of the trading community.
“Duties have been going up so far as the exchange rate is also going up. So, at least, if they fix it for us, it means that the duties that we pay are going to stabilise, and that will also mitigate some of the numerous problems that we have, and that will take some of the stress off us,” he pointed out.