Amidst the renewed discourse on achieving a ‘Ghana Beyond Aid,’ Professor Peter Quartey, Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social, and Economic Research (ISSER), has urged the government to explore innovative approaches to boost domestic revenue without burdening Ghanaians with higher taxes.
During an appearance on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, the economist highlighted the potential benefits of digitizing the tax system, emphasizing that it would enhance revenue efficiency and reduce human discretion in tax collection.
While acknowledging the strides made by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and other institutions in digitizing aspects of the tax system, Prof Quartey stressed the need for further intensification of these efforts and expansion of the tax base to include the informal sector.
“We need to raise more revenue domestically, not by imposing higher taxes but by making the existing tax systems more efficient, and we’ve started that with digitization which GRA and the others are doing and I think we need to deepen that.
“And we need to remove the human interface. There is so much discretion when it comes to raising revenue in the country,” he stated.
Mr. Quartey’s statement follows remarks by Lord Paul Boateng, a Member of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, who emphasized during a leadership lecture at the UPSA in Accra the need for Ghana to wean itself off foreign aid.
Lord Boateng asserted that reliance on external aid impedes significant growth in the country.
Concurring with Lord Boateng, the Director of ISSER highlighted that enhancing domestic revenue generation could lessen Ghana’s dependence on external funding sources.
Prof. Quartey also emphasized the importance of government reducing its expenditure to aid Ghana’s journey toward financial independence.
He questioned the rationale behind significant expenditure increases in the government’s annual budget statements despite revenue challenges, referencing budget statements from 2022 and 2023.
“We also need to look at our expenditure. I don’t think we are getting value for money for the expenditures, especially for the procurement of goods and services.
“It surprises me that in times of difficulty like this, if you look at the budget statement from 2023, 2022, and even before that we increased expenditure, sometimes, 42%, 30% and you ask yourself, if you are struggling to raise revenue yet your expenditure is still going up, how do you address all the beautiful things you raised in the Ghana Beyond Aid document? We need to go back to the drawing board,” he stated.