Kristalina Georgieva
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it is collaborating with the government to find an alternative to bridging Ghana’s revenue shortfall since the Value-Added Tax (VAT) which was proposed on electricity has been suspended.
According to the IMF, it was concerned about the issues mooted on the implementation of the tax and the effects it could visit on households and businesses, as well as the general public.
Managing Director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva, who made this known at a meeting with some selected journalists when she visited Ghana recently, said her outfit would reach a mutually beneficial choice that would bridge the debt gap and maintain economic gains.
“We understand that the people in Ghana have been impacted and for the low-income household, any additional cost is a problem that is very difficult to bear. We have to look at the objective of getting strength in the fiscal position of the government. There are different measures that we can adopt to achieve this,” she noted.
She continued, “We are still discussing but government needs to look within on how to achieve this to ensure the debt and fiscal sustainability. So our team will help in this regard to achieve it.”
The government, it would be recalled, suspended the proposed implementation of the 15 percent Value Added Tax (VAT) on domestic consumption of electricity last month.
The Ministry of Finance directed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) to hold on with the imposition of the levy until industry players and labour unions had been consulted quite enough.
By Samuel Boadi