The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, is pushing for the passage of new taxes in Parliament.
This, he said, is to enable government secure Board approval for an IMF bailout (IMF).
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Wednesday, was worried that these bills, if not passed, will affect domestic revenue.
“If we don’t do what we have to do for the country, we will have major challenges. So, this is a set of measures we must ensure is worth passing. This is a major bridge we have to cross in closing this revenue gap and ensure that there is more liquidity,” he stressed.
Three bills are currently before Parliament, with the government hoping to generate approximately GH¢4 billion per year if the bills are passed.
The bills are the Income Tax Amendment Act, the Excise Duty Amendment Act, and the Growth and Sustainability Act.
Though the Information Minister acknowledged that Ghana is currently in a challenging situation, he warned of dire consequences if the government’s efforts to close the domestic revenue gap continue to stall.
“We are not in a good place because we don’t have access to the international capital market. Having hard currency to service our import obligations is significantly being threatened.
“It is important we complete all prior actions, lock up this deal and get a shore up best from the IMF and other inflow sources and do certain broad things to ensure that the economy doesn’t crash and expand investments that will bring economic inclusion. We need to do what must be done to ensure that we cement the kind of relative stability we have had in the last four to five months and gradually begin to reverse the economic challenges we have had,” he said.
The Minister has already appealed to the Minority in Parliament and other relevant stakeholders to support the passage of the revenue bills.
“To our colleagues in the Minority, I think it is clear that we need to work together to achieve a certain objective for the country. My appeal to those in government, Minority, economic groups is that, we must ensure that these revenue bills are passed,” he urged.