Budget review: There’s room for expenditure cuts, we won’t accept tax increases – Minority

The Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson says his side will block any attempts by the government to increase taxes during the mid-year budget review.

According to him, the NDC MPs will ensure government reduces its expenditure instead of impoverishing the already suffering Ghanaians.

He insisted that there is a massive room for expenditure cuts.

“I won’t be surprised if the government introduces new measures because if you read the MEFP, the IMF is asking for additional measures of about 1% of GDP and I don’t know where that is going to come from.”

“If I look carefully, there is a massive room for expenditure cuts, but the government obviously is indiscipline, and they don’t seem to care.”

“They want to live large on the back of the people of Ghana. So they need to cut that kind of expenditure and if I am the one in charge or responsible, I would rather go for a cut in expenditure as against a tax measure or an increase in taxation,” he said in an interview with JoyNews.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta will July 25, present the 2023 mid-year budget review to Parliament.

This will be the first time he is doing this after the government successfully signed onto an IMF deal.

Ahead of that, industry players have already asked the government to use the opportunity to remove some tax handles.

The taxes include the tax on sanitary pads amongst others.