The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) has urged the government to find innovative ways of increasing the efficiency of the tax administration and expanding the tax net instead of introducing new taxes and increasing tax rate.
It emphasised that the tax reforms are driving up the cost of production and stifling the growth of the private sector.
“Immediate measures are necessary to safeguard and promote domestic businesses and the private sector. This is crucial to prevent any adverse effects on the government’s efforts to accelerate industrialization, boost exports, generate employment, and achieve sustainable growth”.
“As previously mentioned, the government should utilize the mid-year budget review as an opportunity to provide relief to domestic businesses”, it stated.
The Chamber also entreated the government to collaborate with the Bank of Ghana (BoG) to urgently explore innovative strategies for tackling the high inflation prevailing in the economy.
These recommendations form part of the Chamber’s proposals to be considered during the 2023 Mid-Year Budget Review.
The GNCCI emphasizes that addressing the high inflation rate is crucial for businesses to obtain necessary funding for expansion and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact.
The Chamber further highlights that the consistent rise in the policy rate and subsequent lending rates have had adverse effects on key productive sectors and overall growth within the industrial and service sectors.
Again, it pointed out that, “Supply-side constraint should be explored as the current inflation trend shows clearly that the problem is not solely a monetary issue”.