Importers, Exporters Warn Of Impending Food Shortages Over Withdrawal Of FX Support

The Importers and Exporters Association has warned of an impending food shortage and surge in food inflation in the country.

This comes after the Bank of Ghana(BOG) announced it has withdrawn foreign exchange support to customers for the importation of certain non-critical commodities.

These commodities include rice, poultry, vegetable oils, toothpicks, pasta, fruit juice, bottled water and ceramic tiles.

“In accordance with the president’s directive, issued in his recent address to the nation on the Ghanaian economy on Sunday 30 October 2022, the Bank of Ghana will no longer provide forex support for the imports of rice, poultry, vegetable oils, toothpicks, pasta, fruit juice, bottled water, ceramic tiles, and other non-critical goods,”  a message from BoG read.

BoG withdrew the support as part of efforts to maximize the country’s reserves while encouraging domestic production and the consumption of local substitutes.

According to the importers and exporters, this directive will affect the supply of food in the country.

The Executive Secretary of the Importers and Exporters Association, Samson Asaki Awingobit said Ghana does not have the capacity to withstand the consequences of the directive.

“I can tell you that within the shortest possible time, we will see an uprise in prices of these commodities, especially if the Bank of Ghana goes ahead to implement this policy to the latter.

“What it means is that those who have these stocks in their warehouses, they will hoard them and by January, we will begin to see some shortages because the Commercial Bank will not have the forex to satisfy the market and so if the Bank of Ghana will not come in to help them, what it means is that only a few people will be able to raise these monies to go and bring these things,”  he explained.