Increase taxes to support borrowing – Joe Jackson charges government

• Joe Jackson says he expects tax increment

• He indicated that it will support borrowing

• He said, life is going to be tough

Joe Jackson, the Director of Strategy and Business Operations at Dalex Finance, has urged the government to increase taxes that will support borrowing.

He explained on Citi FM’s ‘The Big Issue’ programme that, due to Ghana’s precarious debt situation, the country has to borrow in order to keep the economy afloat, and the borrowing would have to be offset by the revenue from the taxes.

“In this new budget, taxes have to go up. They have to address the issues of exemptions and property taxes,” he said. “Borrowing is not a choice. We can’t exist without borrowing. We have gone past that point. Not to borrow will crash the economy.”

Jackson insists that, the government must focus on making borrowing “as painless as it can be.”

“For anyone who thinks life is going to be easy, it is going to be a tough time,” Joe Jackson warned.

He believes the current state of Ghana’s economy will eventually lead the country to the IMF for support.

“The state of Ghana’s economy will eventually lead to the Akufo-Addo government going to the IMF for support,” Jackson predicted.

“The conversation [about IMF support] has to be how we make it as politically palatable as possible,” he said.

TWI NEWS