Stephen Donkor is a data analyst

In real terms and more advanced economies around the globe, prices of items are determined mainly by the input cost or basically the cost of production and some margin placed on the item for profitability.

However, third-world countries and developing economies are faced with the depreciation of their currencies as a major contributor to the prices of goods and services.

This phenomenon makes life very uncomfortable in such economies, of which Ghana is not an exception.

In recent times and over the past few years, the cedi has experienced a massive decline against the major trading currencies like the dollar, pounds, and euros.

This has made prices of items in Ghana more expensive as compared to Europe and other parts of the world.

In the past few weeks, Ghana has implemented both fiscal and monetary policy measures to address this worrying trend.

The cedi has significantly gained weight and gained over 16% against the USA Dollar. According to data from bloomberg, the cedi is rated as the best performing currency in the world.

This positive trend, however, is not translating into prices of items as prices do not see the reflection of the positive gains on the cedi.

Professors and other notable personalities have given commentaries on why there's the need to wait for some time before traders can reduce price.

I hold the same view to some extent, but i believe traders have to reduce prices now as market value and replacement cost of items have reduced drastically.

There's no point holding to the old prices when you can replace the same item with far lower cost.

This is a slap in the face to the good work done by the finance minister and the government. We need to appreciate their effort so they can do more.

GUTA, through their members, should initiate measures to address this worrying situation. If traders think that this cedi strength is not sustainable, then they should be prepared to buy at GHS 18 when they need dollars.

GUTA should not only be a mouthpiece but rather be an institution that does negotiations on trade on behalf of importers and traders.

I hold a firm belief that prices of items should be reduced NOW, and the government should initiate measures through the trade ministry to ensure prices of items are reduced without hesitation.