The Business Development Manager of the steel manufacturing company, B5 Plus Limited, Sandeep Sawlani, said it was crucial for the government to fix the cedi rate against the dollar since every business depended on it.

He said “We import the majority of our raw materials and now the prices have been increased by 50 percent. This forces us to increase our prices which is a big challenge. We, therefore, expect the government to come up with a solution.”

He made this known on the sidelines of the Ghana Corporate Brands Awards 2022, held in Accra where 26 companies and individuals were re-awarded for their exceptional services.

Eugene Markwei, the Head of Marketing and Strategic Management at Maxim Cosmetics Ghana, also reiterated the difficulty manufacturers faced in providing quality products at reasonable prices due to the exchange rate losses.

“It’s not the fault of any manager to delay salaries of employees, it’s the situation, particularly, when you are in the manufacturing sector, as you have to import raw materials at a double price,” he noted.

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) also complained and feared that local businesses may soon collapse over the continuous depreciation of the cedi.

President of GUTA, Dr. Joseph Obeng said “Businesses have reached a situation where their survival is seriously threatened . . . we are calling on the government, as a matter of urgency, to reconvene the Foreign Exchange Committee that was set up a few years ago by the Finance Ministry which involved all relevant stakeholders, to help find an immediate solution.”

He added: “The exacerbation tension that is coming from the trading Committee is huge…they believe that if nothing is done about their businesses, their businesses are going to collapse in perpetuity so they are calling for a serious demonstration.”