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Cedi depreciation: Ghanaians overly dependent on imports – Akufo-Addo laments

President Akufo-Addo has blamed Ghana’s overdependence on imports as the reason for the continuous depreciation of the cedi.

Cedi depreciation: Ghanaians overly dependent on imports – Akufo-Addo laments

According to him, the local currency would appreciate if Ghanaians begin to shift towards patronising locally made goods.

He said public discourse should begin to focus more on the structural problems affecting the cedi.

The President said this during a meeting with the leadership of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA).

“I am thinking that our public discourse should also begin to focus much more on some of the structural problems involved in our currency. Yes, there are moments when you can fall…but there are structural problems we so far, do not articulate loudly enough in my view,” Nana Addo said.

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“We live in a country where we are overly dependent on the importation of things for our daily sustenance, things we can produce we continue to import them and at the same time, we don’t generate enough exports.”

The local currency has continued to fall since the turn of the year from GHc 4.9 to over GHc 5.5 per US dollar.

The business community has particularly lamented the situation, calling on the government to take steps to salvage the situation.

The cedi, however, experienced a marginal appreciation this week, selling at GH¢5.3 to the dollar on Tuesday.

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President Akufo-Addo called for the public to tone down importations, insisting it only strengthens foreign economies to the detriment of Ghana’s own economy.

“But if consistently, you are just harping at the periphery, you never get to the centre of the issue and this is the centre of the matter.

“If you buy things from abroad, you are creating work outside Ghana which you could create inside this country. We need to focus on that and at the same time be much more competitive in our attitude to the things that we produce,” he added.

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