Dr. Stephen Amoah
Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Stephen Amoah, says judicious use of public funds by politicians would motivate citizens to contribute more to help develop the country.
“We the politicians and other stakeholders, who have the mandate to manage the taxes we collect, should put it into good use,” he said. “Efficient usage of state funds should be ensured so that when Ghanaians pay their taxes, they would see something tangible for what they have paid to be motivated and encouraged to pay more,” he stressed.
Dr. Amoah, who was addressing an audience of economists, policymakers, and industry experts at the second edition of the Financial Economic Seminar in Accra, maintained that so long as Ghanaians are not encouraged to pay realistic taxes, the country would continue to borrow for its developmental agenda.
According to him, the country runs what he described as a negative effective tax rate economy, adding that, “only about two million out of about 31 million population pay direct tax.”
“So long as we don’t pay realistic taxes, so long as we don’t work on the leakages in our tax systems, and so long as we don’t include other stakeholders in paying taxes, we will continue to borrow,” the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry stressed.
Dr. Amoah expressed concerns about the potential negative impact of excessive interest rate hikes on trade and industry, particularly in light of the persistent inflationary pressures experienced in the country.
He urged policymakers to exercise caution when adjusting interest rates, as their strategy may inadvertently worsen the goal of reducing inflation.
Professor of Statistics at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Prof. Atinuke Adebanji, called on the government to regard the use of data in policy decision-making as a necessity.
According to her, data should be seen as a strategic asset to facilitate growth and sustainability, saying that backing economic and trade policies with credible disaggregated data will give the country a better competitive advantage.
‘’If we appreciate that then we can put together the needed infrastructure and make sure there is security for our data use. When we are able to do this, we will accrue the benefit from data.
She posited, proper usage of data will help the country to gather valuable market intelligence and aid in identifying export opportunities in global trade.
The second edition of the Financial Economic Seminar was put together to deliberate on impact of state policies on trade and industries.
It also brought together experts from the banking sector, trade and industry as well as academia and was under the theme, “Impact of socio-economic policies on trade and industries in developing economies”.