High taxes not the key to Ghana's economic development - John Awuni

Executive Chairman of the Food and Beverage Association of Ghana, John Awuni, has bemoaned the high taxes imposed on goods and services in the country.

With the current rate of inflation at 38.1% for September, cost of living has become unbearable for most Ghanaians.

Speaking on this growing development in a press release, John Awuni said over-taxation of Ghanaians was not the solution to the current economic conditions.

He explained that Ghana would have been developed with citizens enjoying a lower cost of living, among others if higher taxation was the key to the country's economic development.

"If higher taxes were the key to our economic development, Ghana would have been really developed with citizens enjoying a lower cost of living among others," Executive Chairman of the Food and Beverage Association of Ghana, John Awuni stated.

It would be recalled that the local economy took a nosedive in 2020 after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

It remained in a wobbling state for quite some time before the Russia-Ukraine war aggravated the case.

As part of measures to tame high inflation and stabilize the economy, the government on July 1, 2022, announced its decision to run to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion financial bailout programme.

Subsequently, a team from the IMF arrived in the country from July 6 to July 13, 2022, to engage Ghanaian authorities for a possible economic support programme.

A staff-level agreement between the Government of Ghana and the IMF was reached in December 2022.

On May 17, 2023, IMF's executive board approved Ghana's $3 billion loan facility.

The first tranche of $600million was received by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on Friday, May 19, 2023.

The IMF programme, according to the government is aimed at restoring macroeconomic stability and safeguarding debt sustainability among many others

SA/MA

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