ACCRA, May 31 (Xinhua) -- As Ghana's currency depreciation continues, vegetable importers across the country, like people in many other businesses, are feeling the pain of falling profits.
The exchange rate depreciation has been eroding capital and impacting businesses and livelihoods in Ghana, Osman Muhammad Sidi, spokesman for the Greater Accra Onion Importers Association, told Xinhua during a visit to a local market on Tuesday.
Citing onion sales as an example, the spokesman said both wholesale and retail prices of onions had gone up. "A 50-kg bag of onions we imported at the cost of 300 Ghanaian cedis (38.46 U.S. dollars) before January now costs 500 Ghanaian cedis (64.10 dollars)."
Besides the depreciation, increased costs of transport and some extra fees charged in the region also contributed to the price hike, Sidi said.
The Bank of Ghana has said the Ghanaian cedi depreciated by 15.6 percent against the U.S. dollar during the first quarter of this year.
In a recent Monetary Policy Committee press conference, Ernest Addison, governor of the Bank of Ghana, said price pressures are becoming increasingly broad-based and reflected in almost all consumer basket components from domestic and imported sources. ■