Trade Minister urges businesses to reduce prices as economic conditions improve

The Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has called on businesses to reduce prices when the economic conditions that led to price increases improve.

Speaking at the 10th CEO Summit 2026, the Minister said price increases may be unavoidable during periods of currency depreciation, global supply chain disruptions, energy crises and pandemics.

However, she stressed that businesses should not maintain elevated prices once the conditions that justified those increases have eased.

According to her, companies that continue charging crisis-era prices despite reductions in operating costs risk undermining public confidence and damaging the reputation of the private sector.

She cited falling fuel prices and easing inflation as examples of improvements that consumers expect to be reflected in the prices of goods and services.

The Minister warned that failure to reduce prices when economic conditions stabilise could erode public trust, increase social dissatisfaction and weaken confidence in a competitive and self-regulating private sector.

She therefore urged business leaders to balance profitability with fairness and social responsibility.

“If you raised prices because of a genuine emergency, the ethical obligation and reputational imperative is to bring them back down when that emergency passes,” she said.

Hon. Ofosu-Adjare added that public confidence in businesses is essential to the private sector’s role in Ghana’s economic development and can only be sustained through responsible and fair pricing practices.