Economist: Ghana Doesn’t Need More Money But Sealing Of Public Purse

Professor Godfred A. Bokpin, an economist and professor of Finance At the University of Ghana has kicked against assertions that Ghana needs to widen its tax base for more revenue to solve the economic crisis.

“When wastefulness is accommodated to the level that we have; the level of corruption and inefficiency, more money doesn’t solve your problem… It’s more about tightening, expenditure rationalisation, efficiency-what Ghana has not been able to do”

He noted that Ghana will be beating the air so far as holes in the country’s purse aren’t sealed and the government’s wasteful spending is not cut.

“If the country is serious, we will have to pick the auditor general’s report, see the leakages in there. It is reported that Ghana loses 2.27billion dollars through exemptions. Look at what we are losing through gold undervaluations and look at the inefficiency at our public investment process”, he noted in an interview on Eyewitness News.

He noted that the E-levy is not the way to go and says going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as many have been proposing should be the last resort.

But Abena Osei Asare, the Deputy Minister for Finance and Member of Parliament for Atiwa East, in an interview with CNR’s Umaru Sanda confirmed that Ghana has no plans of going to the IMF but intends to solve the country’s internal economic crisis with the E-levy.

“E-levy is a homegrown solution. Globally there are issues everywhere and all countries are trying very hard to find space within themselves to develop. You have issues that you have to raise more revenue but you run to IMF. What happened to homegrown solutions. Where is the spirit of ‘yes we can do and do it well.’ Let us come together and support this government to push through the E-levy”, she said.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini