The Vice President, Dr Mahamadu Bawumia, says the government is still committed to its vision of building a ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ despite the challenges posed to the economy by the COVID-19 pandemic.
He said Ghana was well-positioned to have an economic boost due to government policies and initiatives rolled out.
The ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ is an agenda by the government to ensure a prosperous and self-confident country beyond needing aid and that engages competitively with the rest of the world through trade and investment.
Speaking at a 2-day National Labour Conference at Kwahu in the Eastern Region, Dr Bawumia said: “The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly affected the gains which we made in the last three years. The government is committed to turning around the economy and will do all it can to restore the economy from the devastating shackles of COVID-19 and other global threats that we are seeing.
“On the objective of the Nana Addo government to build a modern, prosperous, and private sector-led economy anchored on the vision of Ghana beyond aid, we haven’t abandoned that vision,” he stressed.
The Ghanaian economy has seen a lot of challenges attributed to the pandemic.
In March 2021, the Finance Ministry indicated that the government had spent GH¢19 billion on the COVID-19 fight.
There is pressure on the government due to rising public debt, expenditure management and revenue generation constraints.
The situation is compounded by the depreciation of the Ghana Cedi against other major currencies and possible interest rate hikes.
Additionally, fuel prices have recently seen an exponential increase crossing the GHS 8 per litre mark, which could have a ripple effect on the prices of goods and services.
In a bid to address revenue shortfalls, the government proposed the introduction of a 1.75% electronic transaction levy which it says will help the country self-finance its development.
The E-Levy is expected to generate an estimated amount of GH¢ 6,96 billion in 2022, GH¢7.89 billion in 2023, GH¢8.92 billion in 2024 and GH¢10.09 billion in 2025.
It is also one of the measures to increase the country’s tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio from 13 per cent to 16 per cent.
Dr Bawumia said the government would ensure that the private sector is supported while ensuring efficiency in the public sector.
“We remain focused on improving public sector efficiency, rationalizing public expenditure, enhancing internal revenue mobilization, deepening the country’s digital footprints and spurring the growth of the private sector. We need your sustained support if we are to achieve this vision.”