The President of the Ghana Union of Traders Associations (GUTA), Joseph Obeng has said the rising cost of business operations in the country has rendered the business unproductive.
According to him, Ghana is no longer competitive in the trading industry due to the numerous taxes placed on production and importation.
In an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme on Monday, the GUTA President questioned why government is still introducing new taxes when it promised Ghanaians a “taxation to production” economy.
Speaking on the proposed implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT) on electricity charges, Mr. Obeng said the introduction of these additional costs will burden businesses.
He indicated that, when the purchasing power of their consumers goes down, it affects operations.
“The money that the customer will use to buy something, he will now use it to buy electricity. We also use electricity in our businesses, and now transportation is another problem. If we are indeed turning the corner as the government is saying, why bring something that will impede growth?
“The cost of doing business has made us very unproductive. Some companies produce here in Ghana but they rather import from other countries to sell. We are no longer competitive in the sub-region because everything is expensive. Taxes keep piling and thats the main reason we are uncompetitive,” he said.
Mr Obeng further urged government to review the new taxes.
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