Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, director general of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), has commended Parliament for passing the three revenue bills, saying it will help increase Ghana’s revenue base.
According to him, there is a huge gap when it comes to revenue mobilisation as a middle-income country, therefore it is imperative to have such mechanisms to boost the economy. Parliament last week passed the three revenue bills that will play a critical role in restoring Ghana’s economic stability and growth.
The three revenue bills are the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill, the Excise Duty and Excise Tax Stamp (Amendment) Bill and the Growth and Sustainability Levy Bill.
The bills were given the green light after a majority decision of 137-136 on Friday 31 March 2023. The government is seeking to generate approximately GHC4 billion a year to supplement domestic revenue.
Expanding the tax net
Speaking in an interview with Asaase Business, Mensah-Abrampa said the passage of the bills is the only way to get everyone on board to increase revenue in the country.
“Resources at the center of our development is very crucial,” he said. “The percentage of projects that we were not able to accomplish is basically because of resources that are not available.”
“And if you look at how much we are able to mobilise, we are still around 13% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while the average in Africa is 16%,” he said.
“And giving ourselves as a middle-income country, the minimum that is expected of us is around 20%, so we still have a gap of 7% to close, and so how do we close this? It’s by stretching our means of mobilising more resources,” Mensah-Abrampa said.
SOurce: asaaseradio
NDPC boss: Passage of three revenue bills timely
