The Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has called on businesses to balance profitability with fairness by reducing prices when the economic conditions that led to increases improve.
Speaking at the 10th CEO Summit 2026, the Minister appealed to business leaders to demonstrate ethical responsibility in their pricing decisions, particularly during and after periods of economic and global crises.
She acknowledged that price increases may sometimes be necessary during challenging periods such as currency depreciation, global supply chain disruptions, energy crises and pandemics.
However, she stressed that businesses should not continue charging inflated prices once those conditions have eased.
“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 stated.
Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said businesses that maintain crisis-era prices despite reductions in operating costs risk losing public confidence and damaging the reputation of the private sector.
She pointed to falling fuel prices and easing inflation as developments that consumers expect to see reflected in the prices of goods and services.
According to her, the failure to adjust prices downward when economic conditions stabilise could fuel public dissatisfaction and weaken confidence in a competitive and self-regulating private sector.
The Minister stressed that public confidence is essential if the private sector is to play its role in Ghana’s economic development. She said such confidence can only be sustained when businesses exercise their pricing power responsibly and remain accountable to consumers.
She urged companies to adopt pricing practices that reflect fairness, transparency and consideration for the welfare of consumers while pursuing their business objectives.
Irene Wirekoaa Osei, ISD
