The Leader of the Ghana Association of Merchants Affiliation (GUTA) has weeped over the lessening capital of organizations inferable from the high trade and loan costs as well as high expansion.
Dr. Joseph Obeng said in an interview on JoyNews’ The Pulse on Tuesday that businesses are losing money. He added that money invested in businesses has been “depleted by over 50%” because of high exchange and interest rates and high inflation costs.
“Now we find it difficult to obtain the same 100% value as you had at the beginning of the year.”Now only 50% of your value is used, and it can buy half of the exchange you used to buy,” he added.
Members of GUTA in Accra shut down their stores on Tuesday as part of a nationwide protest prior to this event.
The aggrieved traders claim that the exorbitant tax rates and the persistent depreciation of the local currency in comparison to the US dollar influenced their decision to cease business operations.
The traders claim that this is hurting their businesses and reducing their profit margins and capital.
Bernice Abu-Baidoo Lansah of JoyNews went to the Central Business District on Tuesday morning and found that some of the businesses have already shut down.
They were unhappy about the current economic crisis because they wore red scarves on their hair.
The traders noted that if the situation did not change, they would be forced to close their shops. As a result, they felt the need to protest to bring their plight to the attention of the government.
When we visit stores to purchase supplies, we women as retailers receive no compensation.The increases have taken all of the profits.Additionally, some of us are operating on loans with extremely high interest rates, resulting in virtually no profits.
In Ghana, everything appears distorted.One of the traders lamented, “The current regime promised to improve things, but now we, women in particular, are really suffering.”
The traders in Accra took action after their counterparts in Kumasi also closed their businesses due to similar concerns.
In the meantime, GUTA has discussed the difficulties with the Council of State.
Mr. Obeng stated that the meeting with the Council of State led to a consensus and that GUTA supports it.
He stated, “They divided the petition to about three, which are those that we can deal with in the short, medium, and long terms… Council of State has done well.”