Cedi Gains, Same Prices: Why Traders Say Market Costs Haven’t Caught Up With Currency Stability

After months of volatility, Ghana’s cedi has finally found firmer footing—thanks to improved foreign exchange management, disciplined fiscal consolidation, and timely inflows from the International Monetary Fund. Yet, in Accra’s bustling markets, where the real economy meets everyday life, prices of goods remain stubbornly high.

This disconnect has left consumers puzzled and frustrated. The cedi is gaining, so why aren’t prices falling?

The answer, according to traders themselves, is as pragmatic as it is inconvenient: legacy costs. From Makola to Okaishie, many merchants say they are still selling off inventory purchased when the dollar was north of GH¢12. Until those goods are cleared, price adjustments remain economically unfeasible.

“People forget that we bought our stock when the dollar was much higher,” a textile trader in Kantamanto told the Accra Street Journal. “We can’t lower prices now and take a loss. That’s not sustainable.”

This position is echoed across trading hubs, especially among import-heavy merchants who rely on foreign currency to replenish their supplies. For them, price movements lag behind currency shifts—often by several weeks or even months.

That reality has clashed with public expectations and mounting pressure from advocacy groups like the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA), which has called on its members to reflect the cedi’s strength in their pricing. But for most traders, price flexibility is constrained not by greed or speculation, but by the simple need to recover sunk costs before moving forward.

There is also the issue of volatility memory. Traders in Ghana are well-acquainted with the unpredictability of exchange rates. A temporary appreciation, no matter how welcome, is not yet a trend. Until currency gains demonstrate durability, many businesses are reluctant to revise pricing models they view as a hedge against future depreciation.

This lag effect is not unique to Ghana. Across emerging markets, exchange rate improvements typically take time to cascade through retail supply chains—particularly when businesses operate on imported stock and thin margins. The first beneficiaries of currency appreciation are usually importers of new goods, not sellers of existing inventory.

Still, the pain is real. For consumers—many of whom have endured years of economic pressure—a stable cedi should mean cheaper goods, full stop. But market economics rarely work on emotion. The truth is that unless a nationwide mechanism exists to ensure rapid price recalibration, the benefits of macroeconomic improvements will always trail behind the headlines.

The editorial stance of the Accra Street Journal is that Ghana’s economic policymakers must do more to bridge this trust and timing gap. While the Bank of Ghana and the Ministry of Finance deserve credit for currency stabilization, they must now ensure that this progress is felt in real terms—especially by households.

Transparency, public education, and better trade data can help. But in the immediate term, consumers will need to temper expectations. Prices may not fall today—but the groundwork is being laid. As traders replenish inventory at better exchange rates, price relief may arrive sooner than many fear.

What’s required now is patience—and vigilance. Ghana has seen temporary currency gains before, only to lose ground to fiscal indiscipline and global shocks. This time let’s hope the foundation holds.

Only then will the cedi’s rise truly translate into relief for the average Ghanaian pocket.

Last Updated on May 20, 2025 by samboad