Dr Humphrey Ayim-Darke, President of Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), joined Dr John Kwakye, Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA)and Ms.Hamdiya Ismaila, General Manager of the Venture Capital Trust Fund, to address over 100 participants from the business community, academia, civil society and the media, at the just ended Graphic Business, Stanbic Bank Third Quarter Breakfast Meeting, held at the pleasant Labadi Beach Hotel, Accra.
Under the theme: Living Within our means, an imperative for economic success; the AGI President, Dr Ayim-Darke expressed that, Industrialisation and massive investment into productive sectors of our economy is the way forward.
He further indicated that, the structure of Ghana's economy is still very dependent on the export of raw materials, which is not the best for the growth and sustainability of the economy.
He noted that, Ghana still exports all its resources, such as gold, timber, cocoa and oil, in their raw state, which does not fetch enough for the country.
“Over 60 per cent of the items exported are still in the raw state, and as long as you do that, your revenue streams will not be sustainable and enough to meet the various needs and wants of your country”.
“So the limited resources as a result of the pre-colonial structure become a hindrance to living within our means,” Dr Ayim-Darke emphasized.
On enhancing domestic revenue,
Dr John Kwakye, Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) stipulated that, for the country to effectively live within its means, the government must put in place measures to boost domestic revenue.
“As a country, our total revenue is just about $12 billion, so if we have to live within our means, then we must spend either up to that amount or not too higher than that; but that is not enough. $12 billion is peanut for a whole country,” Dr Kwakye opined.
The renowned economist, indicated that, the country was not collecting enough taxes.
For Ghana to effectively live within its means, the government should be able to mobilise about $20 billion in revenue annually, Dr Kwakye exclaimed.
On the need for Ghana to expand the tax net, Ms.Hamdiya Ismaila, the General Manager of the Venture Capital Trust Fund was of the view that, for Ghana to be able to live within its means, it was necessary to widen the tax net to capture a lot more people.
“Less than two million Ghanaians pay tax at the end of the month, out of 30 million. How can two million people pay taxes to finance 30 million people? So, basically, we are starting from zero,” Ms.Hamdiya Ismaila stressed.
She said it was also necessary for the financial industry in the country to provide capital for small and medium enterprises which had the potential to grow and employ more people.
By so doing Ms.Hamdiya Ismaila indicated, new workers who would be employed would also pay taxes, which would increase the country’s revenue base.
To climax the breakfast meeting was a very interactive questioning and answering session that got all participants agog.
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