A nine-member board has been inaugurated to supervise the activities of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in the generation and mobilisation of revenue for the country.
Ghana is said to be losing huge sums of money due to loopholes sighted at various government institutions especially at the ports. However, government is hopeful its projected GHS34billion for 2017 would be achieved.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Deputy Minister of Finance Kweku Kwarteng charged the new board to be up to the task and leave no stone unturned in realising the projected target.
“We have seen in the recent past the growing gap between our income and our expenditures. When it became too difficult for us to handle we went to the IMF for support. For a long time we had hope that this would bring us the required remedies, but the evidence is there for all to see. It didn’t [work], it didn’t because the strategies were not right. And so as a new administration, we have chosen to move from taxation to production, therefore we have introduced many tax incentives to make sure that the private sector will perform and deliver and provide more revenue to make the fiscal consolidation really possible and that is why government has looked round and selected men with proven abilities to do this… We know you will deliver and do not let us down,” he stated.
On his part, the Chairman of the Board, Harry Owusu, pledged the commitment of board members in raising taxes for the country. He further appealed to government and the general public to provide them with the necessary support in executing their mandate.
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
