The Ghana\u00a0Union of Traders Association (GUTA) has bemoaned the lack of money in the system which is adversely affecting their businesses.<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”XPyvOzYpy7oW2PhdJsvYdw9ML2ZMc6DP”]According to the Union, they have been recording low patronage of their goods since last year and things do not pick up even during major festivities like Christmas and Easter.<\/p>\n
In years past, traders always complain over low patronage of their goods during major festivities but the President of GUTA, George Ofori in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong> remarked that last year and this year have been worse due to the various socio-economic challenges bedeviling the country.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bottom line is that, there is lack of money in the system and for that matter, people who are prepared to patronize or enjoy those festivities decide otherwise\u2026if people are buying more, then you can say that people are patronizing and there is money in the system but this time round, since last year, people are not buying as they used to in the past and this is an indicator,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n Mr. Ofori lamented that traders have stock piles of goods in their shops \u201cbut people are not buying\u2026if the dollar or exchange rate is also eating deep into your capital, it affects your business to the extent that it could collapse or slow down your business.\u201d<\/p>\n He however denied claims that because traders import their products and sell at exorbitant prices which is why they are not makings sales.<\/p>\n The GUTA president said the traders in Ghana sell locally manufactured products and then import the shortfall because the capacity of the local manufacturers cannot meet the demands of Ghanaians.<\/p>\n But according to him, there are more imported goods on the market because of many factors including the worsening energy crisis which has further reduced the capacity of local manufacturers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are in a chain of distribution so as soon as one suffers in the chain, it trickles down and affects the others. They are not producing at full capacity and that is why you will find some of our traders going out to bring in goods as imports,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By: Efua Idan Osam\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
\nFollow @osamidan<\/a>
\n