Ivor Kobina Greenstreet
The Convention People’s Party (CPP) says it will review the petroleum bill that adopts the royalty tax system when the party is voted into power.
The party said it would adopt the Production Sharing Formula for the distribution of oil revenues and benefits.
Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, flagbearer of the CPP, who made this know at the launch of the party’s manifesto recently in Accra, said Ghana would have earned over $9 billion from her oil resources between 2010 and 2015 if the Production Sharing Formula had been adopted compared to the paltry $3 billion earned over the same period.
“We will manage the revenue from Ghana’s petroleum sector strictly in accordance with the Petroleum Revenue Management Act 2011 (Act 815),” he said.
Debt Policy
Touching on debt policy and management, Mr. Greenstreet said, “Our debt policy will be driven by our development needs and our capacity to repay through high economic growth and improved tax administration.
“Our debt policy will not be driven by donor benchmarks that ignore our development needs and undermine our ability to finance our development.
“We shall also improve our capacity for debt analysis and management, a deficiency which impedes our ability to raise funds both locally and externally to finance our development.”
Tax Regime
Touching on an efficient and equitable tax regime, he said despite many years of reforms, the tax system in Ghana remains susceptible to abuse, especially by large companies which evade taxes.
The situation, he said, is compounded by big tax concessions often given to foreign investors to the detriment of Ghanaian businesses.
“All these practices deprive the state of billions of Ghana Cedis every year, more than what we receive in foreign aid.
“By plugging these loopholes, we can reduce our dependence on donors while we improve our ability to finance our development and grow our economy.”
cephrokk@yahoo.com
By Cephas Larbi