Artificial shortage of food items imminent – Importers and Exporters Association Boss

The Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana (IEAG), Samson Asaki Awingobit,  has warned that artificial shortages of food items are likely to happen soon due to the challenges of the Cedi.

To that end, he has called for the removal of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BOG), Dr. Ernest Addison, for supervising the rapid depreciation of the cedi.

He said that President Nana Akufo-Addo has delayed sacking the central bank governor, emphasising the hardships businesses are facing due to the cedi’s poor performance against major trading currencies such as the US dollar.

According to the central bank data, the cedi is selling at GHS14.13 to a US dollar as of Monday, June 3. However, the rate is expected to be higher at the various forex bureaus in the country.

Speaking on TV3 New Day on Tuesday, June 4, he accused the Governor of the central bank of not doing enough to clamp down on unauthorised rates at which some middlemen, usually referred to as ‘Alhaji’, sell the dollar at to businesses.

“We are tired with the noise in the media. We want this money to stay within your vault. Let anybody who will do genuine business come to change [at] prevailing rate. Not he will bring the money to a bank and the same bank manager will call you and say go to Alhaji. I won’t go to Alhaji and Alhaji is now selling at GHS16 point something to me.

“The banks are giving it to Alhaji and the Bank of Ghan is benefiting. The governor is benefiting; he is benefiting,” Mr Awingobit emphasised.

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Moreover, he questioned the capacity of the ‘Alhajis’ to have millions of dollars to sell to businesses since the laws prohibit an individual from withdrawing more than US$10,000.

“…where did Alhaji get those hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars that business people go there and get…so who regulates them? Is the Bank of Ghana,” he noted.

“My beef this morning with the Bank of Ghana is that I am calling for his head. He should be dismissed. The President had kept long from dismissing the governor of Bank of Ghana…because not putting much forex to the inter-bank and even if you put forex into the inter-banks, you have failed in supervisory,” he stated.

Awingobit further  “If care is not taken there is going to be an artificial shortage of food items soon because of the Cedi’s challenges.”

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