Bottled water will begin to sell at GH¢2 from Friday, April 1, 2022, while a bag of sachet water will go for GH¢8.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the National Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers (NASPAWAP) disclosed this in a statement announcing the price reviews, which it said is occasioned by the rising cost of inputs such as fuel and imported packaging materials.
The statement said, “The price reviews have been necessitated by the rising cost of inputs, such as fuel and packaging materials which are mainly imported and produced from petroleum sources. In our previous review, the exchange rate of the dollar was in the region of GH¢6.50.”
“Currently, it is inching up to GH¢8.50. Fuel which forms a major cost of distributing the products to the market centers has significantly gone up since our last review. It was GH¢6.50 per liter and now it is above GH¢11 per liter, which is averaging 69.2% change since Jan 1, 2022, when the old prices were implemented.”
It recommended that ice bottled water 500ml be retailed at GH¢2.00, and iced bottled water, 750ml or medium size, be retailed at GH¢2.50 and 1.5L bottled water GH¢3.50.”
“Iced sachet water remains unchanged at 40p. A bag of sachet water, 500ml by 30pcs, will now sell at GH¢6.00 maximum from the retail trucks. Mini shops will now retail a bag of sachet at GH¢8.00 per bag maximum.”
The statement cautioned those in the hinterlands to brace themselves to pay more “due to haulage to remote and distant areas.”
The National Executive Committee (NEC) pleaded with the government and its agencies to take a second look at many fees and taxes on the packaged water industry to help reduce the financial burden to save the industry and protect jobs for the youths along the value chain from production to consumption of the packaged water.
And to consider the significant impact of the packaged water industry on the eradication of waterborne diseases and the achievement of the SDG goals on water.
Source: Mypublisher24.com
