Ernest Kobeah
A GHANAIAN businessman in the United Kingdom, Ernest Kobeah, has called on the government to engender the production of more goods in the country so it can export more to other countries on the continent and beyond.
According to him, this will generate more revenue and help reduce the tax burden on the poor Ghanaians.
Mr. Kobeah said an increase in production leads to economic growth as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
However, Ghanaians are going through a moment whereby taxes are being introduced on the already burdened citizens some of whom could not afford daily meals.
Mr. Kobeah continued that Ghana will not find it difficult if it moves into production because of the abundance of natural resources which it has adding that can also create employment for the unemployed youths who always cry to the government for jobs.
“Businesses are struggling to recover from the increased cost of production caused by the new tax acts arising from the July 2018 Mid-Year budget review, specifically the VAT Amendment Act, 2018 (Act 970), which reduced the VAT rate from 15% to 12.5%; the NHIL Amendment Act, 2018 (Act 971) and the GETFund Amendment Act, 2018 (Act 972) which delinked the two levies (NHIL and GETFund) and treated them as straight levies (including being non-deductible). The plight of businesses and consumers has worsened since these Acts were passed,” he stated.
Capturing the number of taxes introduced by the government in the 2022 budget, he noted that Government services will see at least 15% upward adjustment.
He added his voice to the call for a review of the 1.75 percent charge on all electronic transactions announced by the Finance Minister when he presented the 2022 national budget to Parliament recently.
The businessman said America and other great nations do not have any natural resources compared to Ghana, yet, they have been able to produce more goods and even export some to Ghana and other parts of the world, a situation he believes Ghana can replicate for faster economic growth.