GUTA themselves add to the free fall of the cedi – Joe Jackson

A Financial Analyst and Chief Operating Officer of Dalex Finance, Mr Joe Jackson has blamed the Ghana Union of Traders Association for the free fall of the cedi.

Speaking on Ghana Tonight on TV3, on Wednesday, October 19, monitored by GhanaPlus.com, he said the “they themselves adds to the depreciation of the cedi,

He explained if the traders stop demanding the dollars and trade internally and focus more on exportation instead of importation, the free fall of the cedi will be addressed.

 “If they stop demanding dollars, they find alternatives, they find alternatives locally, they find alternative to export, things will change so I really don’t think so, I don’t think it will put pressure on,” he said.

Joe Jackson was reacting to the fall of the cedi and the decision by the trade union to close shops in protest of the development.

GUTA close shops over cedi depreciation

Members of the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) have currently closed down their shops in the protest of the falling Ghana cedi.

The protest which began on Wednesday, October 19 is expected to continue through to Monday October 24 to drum home their unhappiness with the depreciation of the cedi which is affecting their businesses.

They lament the  continuous falling of the Ghanaian Cedi on the forex market coupled with  high inflation rate is eroding their business capital and affecting their businesses in the long run.

GUTA said they want the closure of their shops to be a “pinch” on government to address their concerns.

The shops closure comes in some days after, traders in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region did same.

closing shops will not make a difference in the cedi depreciation – Joe Jackson

But in Mr Jackson’s view,  the action by the traders will not make any difference in the fall of the currency unless among other things the traders find ways to export and trade internally instead of importing.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think so. Unfortunately, I don’t think the closure of their shop is going to put enough pressure on the government so am not sure whether closing their shops may put pressure on the government in another way but I don’t think closing their shops will make any difference to the depreciation of the cedi”.

On the fall of the cedi, the renowned the Financial Analyst said  “The truth of the matter the cedi has  fallen out of the rapid depreciation that it suffered in March and in subsequently in this year is that it has lost its value as a store of value. Nobody wants to hold cedi because they are afraid that next week or tomorrow the cedi will deprecate”.

“And so we got into this negative thing that because you don’t want to hold cedi, you are asking for more dollars and because the dollars are not available, the depreciation is even accelerated so this is because nobody wants to hold cedi,” Joe Jackson said.

“Everybody thinks cedi as a store of value will not go round for me and what goes well is when I hold dollars but very soon, there will be no dollars in the market and we are going to see some stabilization because the government is going to announce a domestic debt restructuring package”.

The strength of the dollar, Mr Joe Jakson said is important “but right now what we are seeing is the uncertainty, the fact that I can’t hold cedis, that is what is driving that rapid depreciation, the lost of confident in the cedi,”

Source: GhanaPlus.com