Daniel Kojo Owusu
The Country Managing Partner of Deloitte, Daniel Kojo Owusu, has called on the government to review its new taxes in the 2023 mid-year budget, as it prepares to rollout in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
According to him, with the IMF programme currently on board to solve the country’s economic challenges there is an urgent need for the government to scrap off new taxes that have the potential to adversely affect the productive sectors of the economy.
“With the IMF program now on board, the government should use the mid-year budget to review some of the revenue measures introduced in the 2023 budget including some of the new taxes that have the potential to lower the productive sectors of the economy,” he said.
Kojo Owusu made these statements in his keynote address at the 7th CEO Summit held on Monday, 22nd May 2023 in Accra.
He urged the government to take a second look at its expenditure budget on certain programs, particularly recurrent expenditures, and relocate resources to priority sectors such as the industrial and agricultural sectors to create employment.
“We want the government to use the IMF program as a platform to develop a long-term growth agenda rather than a short-term one. This will help our economy move from a significant donor dependency in the medium term. This will eventually enable us to realize the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda,” he added.
Kojo Owusu stated that for Ghana to realize its full potential, it is necessary to effectively monitor the strategic list of economic sovereignty policies and programs aimed at transforming the economy to ensure it achieves its desired outcome.
The Dean of the UPSA Law School, and Chairman of the board of CEO Network, Prof. E. Kofi Abotsi on his part noted that for the country to be economically stable it takes the collective effort of corporations in Ghana through the taxes contributions to support government-run affairs of the state.
Speaking on the impacts of the digital economy, Prof. Abotsi said, “We cannot close our eyes to the onslaught of artificial intelligence at workplaces and its uncertainties. In our digital economy, artificial intelligence is the surest way to maximize the overall output of businesses and enterprises”.
The 7th CEO Summit was themed on Economic Sovereignty, sustainable corporate governance, digital industrial transformation
BY Prince Fiifi Yorke