According to Mark Badu Aboagye, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the approaching Mid-Year Budget Review ought to be able to maintain and boost the investor confidence that Ghana's IMF application has brought about.
He asserts that even if Ghana has begun to perform better on the global market as a result of the government's IMF declaration, the Finance Ministry needed to make announcements about measures that will boost the local market as well.
He emphasised on JoyNews' PM Express Business Edition that the government shouldn't exploit the expansion of the local market as a justification to impose new, onerous taxes.
"Well, I believe that some level of trust in the Ghanaian economy has increased since the news of the IMF's arrival,"and the success of our bonds on the global market has reflected this. However, we must also consider the local component. What can we do?
Therefore, we anticipate that the mid-year review will rather also boost economic confidence; this will happen after appropriate measures are established to address the majority of the issues we are now facing.
"In reality, if you look at the challenges we are facing, we all are aware of the issues, like inflation. The structure of our economy, which we have discussed often, naturally comes up again.
"So, what will the Minister say us about it and how will these difficulties be resolved? Of course, we don't anticipate another wave of taxes," he remarked.
He pointed out that it is obvious the government would not be able to fulfil the goals it set at the start of the year, so it should concentrate on measures that will strengthen the economy rather than providing an explanation for the recession.
"And if you look at the objectives that the Minister set, I don't think we'll be able to hit any of them, at least not from where I sit. Considering the present inflation rate of 29.8%, 8 percent inflation is not feasible. If you consider the GDP of 5.3, he won't be able to do it.
"Now they have to face the facts; the days of comparing the achievements of the NPP and NDC, or 2021 and 2016, are over. We'll be watching for him to be clear and succinct about how they're progressing in order to accelerate and expedite the healing process, the man stated.
Mark Badu Aboagye, in the meantime, claims that his Chamber continues to support the idea that the E-levy should be reduced to 1 percent.
He contends that the present tax rate of 1.5 percent is excessive and would simply encourage people and corporations to find methods to avoid paying it.
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