The urgent need for Parliament to pass the three (3) new tax bills that are currently before it has been reemphasized by Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
He claimed that because of the country’s dire economic circumstances, it would be disastrous to delay passing the legislation necessary to obtain a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The lawmaker warned that if the government’s efforts to close the domestic revenue gap continue to stall, things will get very tough. Citi TV is based in Accra.
“We are not in a good place because we don’t have access to the international capital market. Having hard currency to service our import obligations is significantly being threatened.”
“It is important we complete all prior actions, lock up this deal and get a shore up best from the IMF and other inflow sources and do certain broad things to ensure that the economy doesn’t crash and expand investments that will bring economic inclusion. We need to do what must be done to ensure that we cement the kind of relative stability we have had in the last four to five months and gradually begin to reverse the economic challenges we have had.”
The Minister has already requested support for the passage of the revenue bills from the minority in Parliament and other important parties.
“To our colleagues in the Minority, I think it is clear that we need to work together to achieve a certain objective for the country. My appeal to those in government, Minority, economic groups is that, we must ensure that these revenue bills are passed”, Oppong Nkrumah urged.
The bills, which include the Growth and Sustainability Amendment Bill, Excise Duty Amendment Bill, and Income Tax Amendment Bill, are anticipated to add an additional GH4 billion in domestic revenue each year.
