Ghanaians may be hit with more tax measures by the government and enhanced measures to ensure collection of revenue is robust before the end of the year.The projection follows President Akufo-Addo's admission to the fact that the country is "seeing signs" and that "domestic revenue mobilization is absolutely critical for us.

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"Speaking at the Qatar-Africa Economic Forum in Doha, President Akufo-Addo noted that aside from widening the tax base, it is also working assiduously to rationalize government's expenditure.“We have a fiscal responsibility law in Ghana that has pegged our fiscal deficit at 5 percent but already we are way above that and the sooner we can bring that to more acceptable levels the better for us," he added.

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As part of conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion credit facility, Ghana is to bolster its revenue generation measures and cut down its expenditure to check the alarming debt deficit.Government's commitment to ensuring this was assured by the Finance Minister while speaking during a press conference on May 18, 2023."There is no rush in going back to the international capital market.

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Our expectation is that, by managing our expenditure and increasing our revenue, we will have the resources to address our needs,” Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Finance Minister is quoted by Citinewsroom to have said.Prior to the IMF deal, three new taxes were approved by Parliament and passed into law.

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They are Excise Duty Amendment Bill 2022, the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill, 2022, the Ghana Revenue Authority Bill 2022 and the Income Tax Amendment Bill 2022.On the matter of additional taxation, Member of Parliament from the North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has predicted that government will soon introduce 50 new tax measures as a result of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal.

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“The analysis we have shows that because of this (the IMF) bailout, there are going to be 50 new tax measures… income tax is coming to be progressive.“There is going to be quarterly tariff adjustment. So, every quarter, electricity tariffs are going to go up, can you believe that, every quarter?” the MP asked.

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Meanwhile, although Mr Ofori-Atta has announced government's hesitation to head back to the international capital market for assistance, President Akufo-Addo notes that “we have positioned ourselves to be able to go back into the International market which had been a source of funding for us during the first three or four years of our government.”

The Independent Ghana

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