The Minority in Parliament has predicted a wave of new taxes in the upcoming 2025 budget and has urged Ghanaians to brace themselves for the impact.
However, the caucus vowed to strongly oppose any attempt by the government to introduce new taxes or increase existing ones, arguing that such measures would further burden citizens.
The Finance Minister is set to present the 2025 budget on March 11, with the government prioritizing fiscal discipline and debt sustainability. The budget is expected to introduce key policy measures aimed at restoring economic stability.
However, delivering the Minority’s “True State of the Nation Address”, at Parliament House in Accra, the former Minister for Finance, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam questioned government’s tax strategy “does it make sense to scrap E-levy and betting tax, and replace them with new taxes on the mining, telecommunication, the financial sector and real estate industries, which will all be passed on to customers? The people of Ghana should wait for the deception of the NDC government when they present the 2025 budget – taxes galore!
Dr. Amin further criticized the government’s ambitious GH¢200 billion tax revenue target for 2025, calling it unrealistic in a struggling economy.
“This is how they intend to tax Ghanaians to collect their target of GHS200 billion in tax revenues this year. This government accused us of overtaxing the people of Ghana because by the end of 2024, the NPP administration collected GHS152.9 billion which is 17% tax to GDP ratio taking it from President Mahama’s 13% in 2016. How do you then turn around to expect to collect GHS200 billion in a broken economy?”
The Minority caucus insists that excessive taxation will: stifle economic growth, discourage private sector investment,worsen financial hardships for ordinary Ghanaians
They argue that the government should focus on efficient revenue collection and prudent expenditure management rather than imposing additional tax burdens.
“We, the Mighty Minority, will resist any attempt to introduce or increase taxes. We owe it to Ghanaians to hold this government accountable for its promises.”
President John Mahama in his State of the Nation Address to Parliament last Thurday condemned the previous administration for mismanaging the economy, leaving the country burdened with staggering debt and signs of financial mismanagement. He pointed out that despite setting an inflation target of 18% for 2024, the actual rate reached 23.8%, exceeding IMF projections. The Ghana cedi also depreciated by 19% in 2024 after a 27.8% decline in 2023.
According to the Minority, they are alarmed at the risk of these power challenges reversing the economic turn-around in Ghana evidenced by the resurgent economic growth achieved last year.
The dangers to economic growth are very visible for us to see: there is no reliable power supply, investors are being turned away by a government that is baselessly painting a bad picture of its own economy; and contractors are not being paid despite the GHS68 billion approved by Parliament for the government to spend in the first quarter of the year, and notwithstanding the significant amount of revenue at their disposal to meet these spending requirements, including for example, the over GHc5 billion buffer left for them, GHc8.7 billion collected by GRA for January 2025, and about GHc67 billion borrowed in less than 2 months.
Many government projects have halted as a result, and the resultant job losses by young Ghanaians is very painful and unfortunate.
“The prospects for growth in the first quarter of 2025 remain weak and sluggish; and the government must change its economic management strategy.”
By Eugene Davis
