Dr. Mahamud Bawumia, the NPP’s flagbearer, has restated his dedication to improving port efficiency by introducing stable exchange rates to ease forex challenges for traders.
He stressed that this move would prevent the loss of port activity to neighboring nations.
Addressing a town hall gathering with the Pharmaceutical Society and other industry groups, the Vice President highlighted the importance of businesses, including pharmacies, in nurturing competitiveness to drive economic progress.
“We’re going to change the duty structure and go into more of a flat specific duty. If you have a 40-footer container, you know how much you are paying in cedis. So, you take the exchange rate out of the matter and deal with it.
“We are also going to make sure that our duties in ports by policy cannot be higher than in Lome, which is our competitor. And right now, there’s a lot of diversion of containers to Lome because ours are higher.”
During a discussion on the sidelines of the meeting, Dr. Kow Donkor, President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, expressed optimism that the concerns raised by society members would be addressed, providing relief to its members.
“We know the oil industry; the Bank of Ghana makes available the US dollars for their imports, pharmaceutical industry and medicines are also special items. When you have a shortage of medicines, that becomes a national security issue.
“If the central bank is going to make funding available at a special rate for the pharmaceutical importers and manufacturers, it will also go a long way to stabilize the prices.”
