An economist with CK Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Bismark Osei has proposed the constitution of what he calls a National Price Negotiation Board to influence pricing and control what many consider as outrageous prices being charged by business owners despite relatively stability in the exchange rate and the reduction in the prices of petroleum products.
Petroleum products have seen significant drop in prices at pump coupled with a relatively stable exchange rate in the country yet prices of goods and services continue to remain unchanged. It is against this backdrop that consumers are asking duty bearers to compel traders to reduce prices of goods and services.
Speaking on Daybreak Upper East show, Mr. Osei said a National Price Negotiation Board will give consumers, producers and all the stakeholders the opportunity to negotiate prices of goods and services for the mutual benefit of both consumers and producers.
He said, “when it comes to fuel prices, whenever the fuel prices go up, the government and the transport operators negotiate on how transport fees are supposed to go up. I’m also thinking that there should be a price negotiation board that can also look at the prices of goods and services. So that when the prices are supposed to go up, by what margin should they go up and when they are supposed to come down, what margin should they be? For instance, at the beginning of the year, prices of goods and services go up two or three times, I feel that some [ traders] are taking advantage of consumers. If there is a price negotiation board, maybe the ministry of trades and industries and GUTA will sit down to determine how the price is supposed to go up. So when prices were supposed to come down, they could have sat down and negotiated how prices could come down. Going forward, these are some of the things we have to see to, so that we can have the ministry [trades and industries] and GUTA together with other stakeholders coming together to form this board.”
Source: A1Radioonline.com|101.1MHz| Samuel Adagom|Ghana
