It, however, stated that should they go ahead with this intended plan to remove the 50% benchmark value reduction on some selected items, it will affect them direly. “However, we strongly suggest that the government abandons its intended abolishing or removal of 50% benchmark value reduction, since it will hurt businesses and consumers alike and bring extreme hardship on the citizenry in the form of further price increases. As part of measures to curb the incidence of goods smuggling and enhancing revenue generation at the ports, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia had, at a town hall meeting in 2019, announced a decision of government to reduce the benchmark value by 50%. “Should the government remove the 50% benchmark value reduction, it means there is going to be an automatic price adjustment upwards since businesses cannot absorb the increase in cost alone. Some businesses that do not have enough capacity to absorb this shock and pass on to consumers will also fold up.

Source: GhanaWeb August 09, 2021 18:45 UTC