Easter Is Here And The System Is Broke - GUTA President

The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) says there is no money to spend in the Easter festive season and this has affected businesses.

President of GUTA, George Ofori speaking to Citi FM on Thursday said, 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.

He however blame the low patronage of goods and services to the power crisis and the free fall of the cedi.

According to him, “The 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…if 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,” he explained.

He has therefore tasked Government to take stringent measures to salvage the depreciation of the Ghana cedi against other major currencies in the country and take pragmatic measures to end the energy situation.

He said the current load shedding exercise was affecting the growth of the industries and stressed the need for government to find a lasting solution to the energy problem.

Mr. George Ofori noted that if Government did not step up plans to salvage the currency, it would lead to the collapse of many businesses, especially in the private sector, which had been considered as the engine of growth.