The three-hour engagement session took place in Accra on Monday, June 27, 2022 and provides government with an opportunity to assess the impact of the economic mitigation measures it announced in March of this year.
Present at the engagement was the Senior Advisor to the President, Yaw Osafo Maafo; Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah; Minister for Agric, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto; the leadership of various trade groups, market queens and transport operators.
The traders during the session attributed the high price of food commodities currently being experienced in market places to the increase in fuel prices, high cost of value chain activities and the seasonality of food products.
They said the high cost of haulage of food commodities from the farm gates to market centres significantly influences prices of food products in the market, calling on government to consider a reduction in fuel prices.
Speaking specifically on interventions in the sector, Dr. Akoto remarked that though government on its part was doing all it could to address these concerns, the traders should also see to it that food items in the market were not overpriced.
The transport operators also bemoaned the unfavourable increase in ex-pump prices of petrol and diesel, the high cost of spare parts, and its associated impact on their transport businesses.
The group acknowledged that the burden would have been harsher had government in the past month not scrapped some levies in the fuel price build up.
They appealed to government to further scrap some taxes on petroleum products to cushion the burden on consumers and enable them sustain their businesses.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah commended the groups for the feedback and noted that, they were all geared towards helping government address the rising food and fuel prices in the country.
He assured them of the necessary actions to lessen the burden on Ghanaians as reports would be conveyed to cabinet for the necessary action.