Some players in the manufacturing subsector are cautioning government against any attempt to introduce new tax measures in the mid-year budget review that will bring excessive hardship on companies.
Their concern comes on the back of statements made by Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, that government will introduce new tax measures in the midyear budget scheduled for later this month.
The move, according the Ministry of Finance is aimed at improving revenue mobilization for the country.
But in an interview with Citi Business News, a Manager in charge of Soft Drinks at Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited, Roland Ofori called on government to seek the interest of manufacturing companies in introducing such measures.
He observed that introducing new taxes that will impact manufacturing could derail some economic gains made by the government.
“For us as a manufacturing firm, one key thing we require is stability. As much as we have a lot of local input, we also import a lot from outside and it’s mainly because as at now, Ghana doesn’t have the capacity to produce the amount of sorghum we require to produce, so we still do quite a bit of import”.
He pointed out that due to challenges faced by the manufacturing industry, it will be prudent to put in place fiscal measures to stabilize the economy.
“Normally, when there is fluctuation in the exchange rate it really hits us hard so we expect government to give us assurance that they are putting in the right macro-economic indicators to stabilize the cedi and enhance our business” he stated.
Meanwhile the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Yofi Grant has also allayed concerns of new taxes, saying government is not interested in introducing new taxes to further burden the tax payer but rather ensure all tax leakages are blocked.
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By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana.
