Kofi Ahovi

Revenue generated from taxes on goods imported yielded some GH¢4.16 billion in the first half of this year. This is against a target of GH¢4.24 billion, a shortfall of GH¢81.50 million which represents 1.92 per cent. The development is in spite of the partial reversal of the discount (benchmark) policy. Due to this, the government has revised the revenue target for taxes on international trade from the initial annual projection of GH¢9.03 billion to GH¢8.57 billion in the Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review released last week. From the revenue side, data from the fiscal policy review indicated that the lower-than-targeted outcome reflected the performance of almost all the revenue lines. Total revenue and grants consisting of domestic revenue, tax revenue and other major revenue lines produced lower than projected, after yielding GH¢37.8 billion in the first half of the year, from the target of GH¢43.4 billion,” it said. “This mirrors a trend that has bedevilled the economy since the beginni...

  A major bane of industry has to do with the current structure of import duties in the country. Due to the numerous taxes and duties charged on the import of raw materials mostly used by manufacturing companies in the country, the prices of the final products are high because the cost borne by the importers is passed on to consumers. This phenomenon tells whenever the Producer Price Index (PPI), which measures the average change over time in the prices received by domestic producers for the production of their goods and services, is released. For instance, the PPI rate for June 2022 increased to 38 per cent, up from the 33.3 per cent recorded in May. This represents an increase of 4.7 percentage points over the period and signals what the general price levels of goods and services within a period will be for the month in review. To help address the situation, the Chairman of the Tropical Cable and Conductor, Dr Tony Oteng Gyasi, one of the country’s major entrepreneurs, has called...