Ghana Employers Association (GEA), has appealed to Government to ensure that the National Petroleum Authority adhere to the price review mechanism.
Mr Terence Darko, President of the GEA, considering the fact that businesses in Ghana have to struggle to cope with high utility tariffs and cost of credit, among others, to be able to stay competitive, any future petroleum price adjustment must be with circumspect based purely on the price review mechanism and their respective time lines.
Mr Darko said this at a cocktail reception for members and other stakeholders to exchange ideas on how to improve on the business climate for sustainable enterprise development in Accra over the weekend.
He said even though the association supported the idea of cost recovery it was of the view that high quantum leaps in fuel price adjustment announced by the authority could greatly impact significantly on business budget resulting in high cost of doing business in the country.
He noted that the world has been confronted with serious challenges such as dwindled growth in the real and financial sectors resulting in high unemployment among the key growing economies.
“Some key sectors that witness slow and negative growth during 2011 were manufacturing, agriculture, service and hotel and restaurant sectors,” he added.
He observed that this affected demand of output of most private businesses in Ghana especially those who produce for the export market culminating in loss of profit to some sectors.
The President said the recent Global Competiveness Report 2011-2012 of the World Bank, ranked the country 114 of 142 in terms of quality of electricity supply.
“Even though the economy of Ghana achieved some level of macroeconomics stability, it did not bring about the needed growth and development of the private sector,” he said.
Mr Darko acknowledged the support and contributions for stakeholders in the pursuance of their vision and mission.
Source: GNA