The Director of CUTS International, Appiah Kusi Adomako, has urged the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to take a more active role in tracking and publishing benchmark prices for essential goods, as part of efforts to promote market transparency and fair pricing. His comments come on the back of a recent call by the Ghana Union of Traders’ Associations (GUTA), which encouraged traders to reduce the prices of goods and services in line with the recent appreciation of the Ghanaian cedi against the US dollar and other major currencies. GUTA described the cedi’s rebound as a “timely and welcome” development and called on its members to reflect the improved macroeconomic environment in their pricing. Reacting to the development on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, May 12, 2025, Mr. Adomako acknowledged the good intentions behind GUTA’s appeal but noted that its success would largely depend on market response and transparency. He proposed that the GSS take the lead by monitoring prices at the ports, factoring in taxes and profit margins, and publishing publicly accessible benchmark prices for commonly consumed goods. “It may or may not work, but one way for the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), is that they can start taking note and monitoring the pricing structure from the port, add all taxes and margins on it, and start publishing recommended prices of goods and services that people normally consume,” he said. He explained that this information should focus on items within the national consumption basket used for inflation calculations, which would make the data more relevant and practical for everyday consumers. “Those items that fall within our consumption bracket they use to calculate inflation. So, once people see the gap between what the GSS has been publishing and what is being charged in the market, it will put more information before the consumers.” Mr. Adomako also pointed out the current imbalance in pricing knowledge between sellers and buyers, arguing that increased transparency would empower consumers and encourage fairer pricing. “This is because currently, it is more like information asymmetry; the businessmen know more about the prices and the price buildup than the consumer.” He illustrated his point with a practical example: “For example, if a consumer goes to the market to buy a product worth Ghc10, such a consumer will have to pay for that or go to a cheaper place. But if the GSS shows to the consumer that after adding taxes and merging to it, the bottle of water should not cost above Ghc6. That information would also cause the businesses to start coming closer to what the GSS has published.” Mr. Adomako concluded by urging the GSS to step up its efforts in this period of currency strength, stressing the importance of real-time price monitoring and publication. “So, in this period, we need to see the work of the Ghana Statistical Service in terms of price monitoring and price publication,” he stated.