FABAG proposes national dialogue on cedi depreciation

The Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) is calling for a national dialogue on the cedi’s unabated fall over the past few days.

The Ghana cedi has continued to lose ground to the major trading currencies this week on the back of persistent corporate demand.

The cedi has depreciated by 17.32% year-to-date to the dollar.

At present, the cedi is selling at GH¢14.90 at the forex bureaus, but the Bank of Ghana is quoting one US dollar to GH¢13.01 as of the close of business on May 14.

Some analysts say the poor performance of the Cedi is due to local and foreign factors such as a rising US dollar against emerging markets currencies.

FABAG chastized current and past governments and the Bank of Ghana for failing to implement policies to tame the cedi.

It says the lack of resilient policies has plagued the cedi into further depreciation against major trading currencies.

It stressed that the cedi’s free fall has occasioned an increase in the prices of goods and services.

Speaking in an interview in Accra on Wednesday, May 15, the Executive Chairman for FABAG, John Awuni emphasized the need for a national consensus on the matter.

“The entire country, we need a national dialogue. We need a national consensus to see what we can do concerning this issue of the dollar because it has always been an albatross on the neck of each government that comes in.

“I have gone through the various governments, the NPP, the NDC, the NPP, the NDC, and I haven’t seen any of them being able to handle the issue of the dollar.

“The central bank is not able to enforce the rules regarding the use of foreign currency in this country because many of them are culprits. You go to the ports, the ports change their duties based on the dollar rate. That is very unfortunate,” he stated on Citi News.