Finance Minister presents mid-year budget review today

Magdalene Teiko Larnyoh 09:34 - 19 July 2018

The presentation of the mid-year budget review is in line with Ghana’s Financial Management Administration Act which requires that the Minister for Finance appear before Parliament not later than July 31, to submit a Mid-Year Fiscal Policy review.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta will today (Thursday, July 19, 2018) present the government’s 2018 mid-year budget review before Parliament.

The review gives the government the opportunity to inform the Parliament of its revision of economic targets and forecast for the remaining half of the year.

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Also, it will also analyze the country’s revenue targets and expenditures.

This year’s presentation has been one of the much talked about by the general public. This is due to media reports suggesting that the Minister will announce an increment in VAT from 17.5% to 21.5%.

This was after a leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, asked questions on his Facebook timeline suggesting that there may be an increment in taxes.

Most Ghanaians were not happy about the speculated plan.

The Minority in Parliament also indicated their opposition to the said increment.

Ghanaian Businesses were also against the rumour. The Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) said it wanted the government to rather widen the tax net rather than further burden those already paying tax.

Meanwhile, the acting Chairman of Abossey-Okai Spare Parts Dealers, Clement Boateng, said he wanted the government to ensure that any tax measure stabilizes the cedi.