The government of Ghana plans to drastically reduce import taxes at the ports

With many importers having petitioned the State to intervene and review the high taxes and duties on imported items, President Akufo-Addo assured that his government is already in the process of dealing with the matter.

President Akufo-Addo said this when he addressed a town hall meeting of Ghanaians resident in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the United States of America on Saturday, March 30, 2019.

According to him, his government has put in place reforms to the import duty regime in the country and these will bring down the high duties prevailing in the ports.

“We have realised from the studies we have done that our ports are not competitive, and the import regime in our country is far too high. We are dealing with it, and, very soon, the measures that the government will roll out will become known to all of you. I am not talking next year, or in 6 months’ time, I am talking very, very soon,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta who recently appeared before parliament has said that the introduction of the paperless port system has reduced the cost of doing business there.

He said, “The results (of the Paperless Port system) showed that the cost components of doing business at the country’s ports have reduced from seven to three cost components. This has, subsequently, reduced the total costs from $239 (GH¢1,280) to $60 (GH¢320).”

“This means that the paperless system reduced the cost of doing business at the ports by $179 (GH¢960) representing 75 per cent savings. Hence, importers are now making savings of 75 per cent as a result of the implementation of the paperless system,” he added.