The president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana,(ICAG) Professor K.B. Omane-Antwi has urged government to block loopholes in Ghana’s tax system to encourage the payment of taxes and restore confidence in the economy.
His comment was in reaction to a recent survey conducted by auditing firm, KPMG, on the views of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in the country.
The report which captured the opinions of over 60 percent of CFOs in Ghana painted a gloomy picture of Ghana’s economic prospects, predicting that 2016 may not experience significant economic growth.
Speaking to Citi Business News, Prof. Omane –Antwi stated that it is important for government to block loopholes that encourage misappropriation of state funds to restore confidence in the economy.
“We have very good laws on taxes in this country but a lot of the taxes go down the drain. Government must ensure that taxes are collected effectively then it will make people happy tax payers,” he advised.
According him, people are more likely to evade taxes and cast doubt on the processes if there are loopholes that encourage it.
Touching some issues that may have influenced the views of most CFOs, Prof. Omane-Antwi stated that the economic challenges in 2015 has affected the finances of most companies in Ghana, hence the reflection in the report.
“There are challenges in the economy and CFOs are aware of it. We are missing a lot of macroeconomic indicators. We must enhance fiscal discipline and get the power situation stable”, he advised.
He was however optimistic that Ghana’s programme with the International Monetary Fund(IMF) will provide some relief in the long run for economic growth.
“We all hope the programme with the IMF will reduce the challenges and help solve the power challenges. We must solve inflation and all the other indicators. Let’s hope the initiative taken with the IMF will turn things around,” he said.
CFO report by KPMG
Over 60 percent of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in Ghana are less optimistic about Ghana’s economic growth prospects in 2016– the 2015 CFO Survey conducted by leading audit firm, KPMG has revealed.
According to the report, the general sentiments for growth prospects in 2016 are not encouraging.
Pointing out specific areas, the report indicated that the most pessimistic responses came from CFOs in the banking, manufacturing, food, beverages and tobacco, as well as oil and gas.
The rest are power and utilities, transport and logistics, insurance and the non-bank financial institutions.
From the figures, 85 to 100 percent of respondents in these sectors expected growth prospects for 2016 to remain the same as 2015 or worse.
In addition, about 80percent of CFOs in real estate, mining and aviation sectors expressed strong pessimism on growth prospects for 2016.
However, respondents from the public sector, media and entertainment, agriculture, and maritime expressed optimism about growth prospects in 2016.
On revenue, 64percent of CFOs expressed strong expectations for revenue growth in 2016.
Meanwhile, most of them pointed out that, reducing costs and improving cash flow are the critical measures needed for business expansion.
–
By; Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana