President John Mahama has defended the government’s recent decision to revise the producer price of cocoa, describing it as a difficult but necessary step to stabilise the sector and prevent further economic strain.
Speaking during his State of the Nation Address in Parliament, the President said the adjustment was required to ensure competitive pricing and address acute liquidity challenges within the cocoa industry.
He explained that failure to revise the price would have forced the government to borrow millions of cedis — a move he warned could have reversed the progress made in recovering from Ghana’s economic crisis.
According to him, unplanned borrowing would have pushed the country back into a cycle of financial instability marked by large deficits and excessive debt.
“Last week, we had to make the painful but necessary decision to revise the producer price of cocoa in order to achieve competitive pricing and address the acute liquidity challenges in the sector. Failing to do this would have meant borrowing millions, which could have taken us back to the very economic problems we are only now beginning to escape,” he said.
While acknowledging concerns raised by cocoa farmers, President Mahama assured them that the reforms announced by the government would transform the sector and guarantee fair and transparent pricing that supports production costs and ensures reasonable returns.
“While I fully understand the concerns and protests of our farmers, I can assure them that the reforms announced by the government will bring about a total transformation of the cocoa sector. These reforms will guarantee them a fair and transparent price that will enable them to cover their production costs and earn decent margins. These are difficult decisions to make, but I had to take them,” he stressed.
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