Politician and businessman, Kennedy Agyapong is of the view that the Akufo-Addo led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration has woefully failed in its promise to Ghanaians in the management of the exchange rate of the country as far as the current dollar to cedi rates are concerned.
Speaking on Kumasi-based Ashh Fm monitored by MyNewsGh.com, he cited figures to back his claim indicating that a lot of businesses are suffering under the administration of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) primarily because of the depreciating cedi against the dollar and other major currencies
“Let me tell you the truth, when it comes to exchange rate the NPP has completely failed. When we came into power it stood at GHC4.1 or GHC 4.2 to a dollar. Jack in the past days the fight I have engaged in because of the money I am paying to my supplier. They gave me a contract and the dollar was a little above GH4 to a dollar by the time I finished with the job, I was paying about GHC5.35 which is very very dangerous”, he served a stern warning.
Though he admits the current government is putting in a number of interventions aimed at shaping the economy, he underscored the need for much to be done in curbing the escalating exchange rate revealing how he has become a victim in recent times.
“The only consolation is that we have done a lot of things that have shaped the economy. But the truth is that the performance of the foreign exchange under this current administration is very disappointing. I had a serious fight at the Agricultural Development Bank before coming here…the Telecommunications Companies anytime they do transfers out of the country then we start suffering”, he stressed.
The Assin Central lawmaker proffered some solutions the NPP administration should adopt in dealing with the continuous depreciation of the cedi against other major currencies world.
“One solution….let us use the South African model. They spend rand when you go into any store with a dollar to buy goods they will not take it from you….you have go to the Forex Bureau and change and they will tax it before the give you the rand and pay tax . It is not like here where you quote even rent in dollars. By law nobody should use dollar, if you are going to use dollar, you must change and pay tax on it to cushion the cedi”, he suggested
He was not charitable with Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) of the Ghana Revenue Authority for introducing certain policies that have further burdened importers in the wake of the high exchange rates
“Another policy Customs is failing is that, government gives you a contract it quotes in cedis. When you import goods into the country, the quote the duty into dollars and then convert into cedis. They are killing businessmen and businesses”, he stressed.
