A survey conducted at two of Ghana’s most important markets in Accra has given indications that beginning from a couple of months from now, traders at their respective enclaves will begin to reduce prices of goods.
Traders at the Abossey Okai spare parts market and the Makola market, both in Accra claim to have struck a win-win situation with the government to realize this objective.
Traders explain that by June, a number of importers would have sold their old stocks, and would be applying downward revised pricing on their new goods cleared from the ports under the new imports duty regime, which would impact positively on shelf prices of those goods.
The reduction of prices of goods is expected to settle in following government’s 50 percent reduction in benchmark values, used by Customs in valuation of all imported goods for import duty assessment purposes and 30 percent reduction for benchmark value of vehicles.
Speaking with the Goldstreet Business during a familiarization tour embarked by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in the area aimed at conducting a field survey to assess changes that have occurred after the Vice President’s pronouncement on the benchmark values reduction, the Co-chairman of Abossey Okai Spare Parts Dealers Association, Mr. Siaw Ampadu said in the next three months, customers will experience the reduction of prices of goods in their pockets.
“We are going to make sure every spare parts dealer here in Abossey Okai reduces the prices of their goods only if government policy keeps working. The policy should be a win-win situation for all”, he reiterated.
The tour was also meant to ensure that the reduction does not only benefit the traders and importers alone, but everyone else in the supply value chain, notably the end users. Already, some spare parts dealers in the enclave have reduced prices of some selected goods to enable customers experience the benefits of imports duty payments reduction.
These sets of traders who have reduced their prices are still in the minority, being only those that have just cleared their goods from the ports following introduction the new imports duty regime.
For instance, one of the traders said he had reduced an item from Gh¢300.00 to Gh¢250.00, which translates to almost 17 percent reduction in the item.
With regards to their counterparts at the Makola market, some traders who spoke with this paper narrated that no one had cleared goods since the directive, but noted they were ready to reduce prices of goods only when the GRA takes pragmatic steps to eliminate the activities of dawn markets within the vicinity, which they claimed was largely affecting their businesses.
By Dundas Whigham