Ghana: Traders suspend closure of shops over economic crisis
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Ghanaian traders on Friday suspended their strike action over worsening economic crisis in the West African nation.
On Wednesday the traders mostly in the capital, Accra closed their shops to protest the high cost of doing business and general economic hardship.
The leaders of the striking traders had said the shops would remain closed until Monday, October 24, but they have now decided to put their industrial action on hold.
They said in a statement that talks aimed at resolving the dispute have been held with the country’s president and other traditional leaders.
“He [the President] then called for setting up of a working committee made up of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, National Security and GUTA, to swiftly come out with pragmatic measures to solve the challenges,” portions of the statement read.
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The traders mostly members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (Guta) say the authorities have promised to address their concerns.
Their concerns have largely focused on dealing with the plummeting of the Ghanaian currency, the Cedi on the forex market and high inflation rate.
The Ghanaian cedi is now 14 to US $1. It has lost 52% of its value against the US dollar since the beginning of the year and is listed as the world’s worst-performing currency.
The Association had called on the government to ascertain the factors leading to excessive demand for forex while reviewing investment laws to retain forex and push foreign investors into productive sectors of the economy.
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“Government should adopt other alternative currencies like the Chinese Yuan to reduce the pressure on the dollar, especially.
There should be the immediate implementation of the road map set out to flush out all illegal foreigners in the retail trade sector,” the president of GUTA, Dr Joseph Obeng had said.
Source: Africafeeds.com
