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Renowned economist and politician, Mr Kwame Pianim has expressed his surprise at the revelation made by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) that government did not confer with them before the three new tax bills were approved by Parliament.
According to the Economist, government’s failure to consult the AGI before proposing the bill suggested that they were looking to take advantage of Ghanaians, considering that the growth and sustainability levy that government is planning on introducing will be paid into the consolidated fund for three years.
“I gues that if you are a government and you think that you know better than your citizen, then you are in trouble. You do not. And this is why I’m surprised, hearing from the AGI that there was no stakeholder consultation on these taxes,” he told the host of JoyNews’ Newsfile, Samson Lardy Anyenini.
“If you take the growth and the fiscal sustainability levy that the government is planning on bringing on, it is going to be paid into the Consolidated Fund and it’s for three years. It seems as if it’s just another lie to hoodwink the Ghanaian,” he added.
The economist’s assertions follow the misgivings levelled by the AGI against executive and parliament in a press release issued on April 3, 2023, that they (government) had enforced a tax policy that did not encourage regional manufacturing and official company operations, and at best, a disincentive to local industries.
The Association further expressed their disappointment at government for failing to consult them on fiscal policies that they, [AGI] claim will have a negative impact on businesses.
The Economist also added that he would have applauded government on the newly approved tax bills, provided government had acknowledged their misappropriation of funds and had been truthful to Ghanaians that the taxes will be aimed to improve the economic growth of the country.
“I would have applauded this tax if the government is saying, look, because of the past recklessness that we’ve been involved in, our tax revenue is not able to cover interest rate payments, salaries and wages and so forth… Therefore, we are putting aside a certain amount, no matter how small…
“$400 million that will be used for growth, which means it was going to be set aside for, let’s say transforming agriculture, for agro processing, for minimizing importation of foodstuff and so forth, this is the beginning.”
However, he stated that government’s tendency to hide the truth from Ghanaians, specifically referencing the government’s quest to obtain a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), made it hard for him to trust that the growth and fiscal sustainability levy that government was seeking to introduce were for the good of Ghanaians.
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