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Ghanaians going through hardship driven by food inflation, high fuel prices – NDC

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has painted a gloomy picture of the Ghanaian economy if the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, and Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Head of the Economic Management Team continue in their current roles.

According to the NDC, the Minister of Finance and Vice President were responsible for the loss of investor confidence which had resulted in the retrogressive state of the economy and could not lead efforts to bring it back on track.

Addressing a press conference in Accra yesterday, Sammy Gyamfi, National Communication Officer of the NDC, said the country’s inability to currently attract investors was due to the Vice President and Minister of Finance’s continuous stay in office.

“It is time to get rid of the two villains who have been at the centre of recking havoc on our economy. The name of the Minister of Finance scares away investors and evokes a feeling of insecurity for Ghanaians.

It is also time to relieve the Vice President for new ideas to take over and steer the Economic Management Team at this time of unspeakable hardships,” he added.

He explained that most Ghanaians were going through the brunt of the current economic hardship driven by food inflation, high fuel prices, imposition of many taxes, among others.

“Cost of living is unbearable, leading to many Ghanaian households going hungry and many falling further below the poverty line.

“Cost of doing business has gone off the roof, leading to the suffocation of many businesses,” he added.

Mr Gyamfi therefore asked the government to, as a matter of urgency, repeal the electronic transfer levy (E-Levy) of 1.5 per cent on mobile money and other electronic transactions as well as the COVID-19 levy of 1 per cent on the VAT Flat Rate and the National Health Insurance Levy.

He called for the immediate scrapping of fuel taxes including the Special Petroleum Tax which had outlived its usefulness, Sanitation Levy and the new Energy Sector Levy of GHC0.20 per liter of diesel and petrol and GHC0.18 per kilogramme of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG).

He further urged the government to suspend the GHC0.9 Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation (BOST) margin and Price Stabilization and Recovery Levy of GH0.16 and GH0.14 per liter of petrol and diesel respectively which were being used for their intended purposes.

Mr Gyamfi noted that the high fuel prices currently were as a result of the continuous depreciation of the Ghana Cedi against it major trading currencies, particularly the US Dollar and not the Russia-Ukraine war as touted by the government.

He said the E-Levy was not a panacea to the country’s economic woes saying it defied known principles of taxation in the country.

He accused the government of economic mismanagement which had increased the country’s risk of debt default, worsened credit ratings and made the country lose access to the capital market and resulted in huge capital outflows.

He also expressed concerns about rising rate of unemployment in the country adding that the government had failed to address the problem despite huge investments in flagship programmes including Planting for Food and Jobs, One Village One Dam AND Nation Builders Corps among others.

Mr Gyamfi advised the government to take remedial steps and shun profligacy and misplaced priorities to address the teething challenges confronting the economy.

BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS

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