The Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA) has applauded the Akufo-Addo government for putting in measures to stabilise the cedi.

The government has put in place a number of initiatives to check the free fall of the cedi.

Reacting to this in a statement signed by GUTA President, Dr. Joseph Obeng, it said, “The Ghana Union of Traders’ Association wishes to appreciate the efforts being made by the government and the Bank of Ghana to stabilise the cedi. We urge government to continue with more efforts to sustain the programme and bring relief to the business community”.

The statement appealed to the business community to adjust accordingly prices of goods, in order for consumers to experience the positive trend.

“As the value of the cedi begins to appreciate, GUTA wishes to appeal to the business community to adjust prices of goods and services accordingly, to make the consuming public feel the impact of this positive trend,” the statement appealed.

The debt restructuring will see a slash in interest payments for domestic bondholders to zero percent in 2023 and five percent in 2024.

Existing domestic bonds as of December 1, 2022, will also be exchanged for a set of four new bonds maturing in 2027, 2029, 2032 and 2037 – all in a bid of restoring the nation’s capacity to service its debt.

“The objective of this programme is to alleviate the debt burden in a most transparent, efficient, and expedited manner. In this context, by means of an Exchange offer, The Government of Ghana has been working hard to minimize the impact of the domestic debt exchange on investors holding government bonds,” the finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta launching the programme on December 4, 2022, explained.