Minority Leader Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson Criticizes Government for Missing Opportunity to Abolish Suffocating Taxes
The Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, has criticized the government for missing an opportunity to abolish taxes such as the E-levy, which he claims have been suffocating Ghanaians.
Dr. Forson noted that Ghanaians expected the removal of taxes like the E-levy, Emission Levy, and COVID Levy. Speaking on the floor of Parliament after the mid-year budget statement by Finance Minister Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam on Tuesday, July 23, the Ejumako Enyan Essiam lawmaker accused the Akufo-Addo-led administration of lacking the necessary ideas to manage the economy effectively.
According to Dr. Forson, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration is headed for opposition due to its lack of innovative solutions. “Ghanaians expected that the government would have removed a number of taxes because businesses are packing out of the country,” he said. “The taxes include the COVID Levy, E-levy, ‘borla’ tax, tax on domestic electricity, and Emission Levy. This is a missed opportunity. They are bereft of ideas, you are on your way to opposition.”
During the mid-year budget presentation, the Finance Minister revealed that Ghana’s provisional total debt stock stood at GH¢742 billion, equivalent to US$50.9 billion, as of June 2024. This represents 70.6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“The stock consists of external debt of GH¢452.0 billion and domestic debt of GH¢290.0 billion, representing 60.9 percent and 39.1 percent of the total debt stock, respectively. As a percentage of GDP, external and domestic debt represented 43.0 percent and 27.6 percent, respectively. This indicates an increase of 22 percent due to the effect of the cedi depreciation and continuous disbursements from creditors,” Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam explained.
