Mid-Year Budget Review: Adjust levies and taxes rolled out – Economist to government

• Prof. Quartey has urged the government to consider reviewing the levies and taxes introduced so far

• He said the surge in the prices of goods and services in recent times is worrying

• Traders have attributed the surge to the high cost of freights

Prof Peter Quartey, an economist and the Director of the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER), is warning of social unrest if the government doesn’t act quickly against the surge in the prices of goods.

He expressed concerns and worry about the surge in the prices of goods and services, such as building materials on the market in recent times, even though traders have attributed the increase in the prices to high rate of freight cost and recent taxes being introduced by the government.

Speaking on Accra-based Joy FM and closely monitored by GhanaWeb, Prof Quartey said the upcoming mid-year review is a perfect opportunity to adjust some of these levies and taxes that have been introduced.

“I believe tax regime is meant to raise revenue but we have to review, that's why for me, one of the things I expect from the mid-year review is for the Finance Minister to tell us how much he has been able to raise on these new taxes levies. Of course, we want to pay for the freebies we enjoyed but not this way,” he said.

According to him, this could make it difficult for people to even build their own houses, adding that the surge could compel industry players to take advantage of the situation and increase the prices of their products.

“So, we need to really discuss this very well and manage people’s expectation about future price increase otherwise there is that expectation that prices are going to continue to increase and that will be a problem.

“If you recall during the first few weeks of the lockdown, we saw people hoarding foods and other stuff and that led to price hikes but later that moderated,” he stated.