Ghanaians should be prepared to pay more taxes as the government seeks to embark on an aggressive domestic revenue mobilization drive to mitigate the negative impact of Covid-19 on the economy.
According to a deputy Minister-designate for Finance, Abena Osei-Asare, government seeks to introduce several tax policies between 2021 and 2023 aimed at raising the needed resources to offset the deficit created by the novel coronavirus.
Mrs Osei-Asare said the government is aggressively working to increase the country’s revenue to GDP from 13% to 20% by 2023 as being done by countries within the sub-region.
She was speaking at an event organised by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs under the theme “Economic Revitalization Amid COVID-19 Pandemic: The Civil Society Organisations’ Perspective”.
Addressing the gathering, Abena Osei-Asare said the Interior Minister has been tasked to develop a gaming policy to raise some revenue from the sector and road tolls are expected to be increase to embark on road infrastructure development.
She added that the introduction of new taxes in the 2021 budget and Ghana.Gov payments platform is also expected to improve efficiency and revenue mobilization.
The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu commenting on the #FixTheCountry advocacy on social media said some people are genuinely pouring their hearts out of the challenges confronting the nation while others also have ulterior motives.
He believes there is the need for government to sift the wheat out of the chaff to improve governance.