The Executive Secretary for Asante Business Owners Association Charles Kusi Appiah Kubi says the time is not right for government to reverse the 50% benchmark values on some imported products.
This follows the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) in a letter forwarded to the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta, signed by the Commissioner General, Rev. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, revealing that the move is informed by an agreement reached with the business community to, as it where, generate more revenue.
All items under the 32 categories currently enjoying port clearing discounts will no longer enjoy that special dispensation.
The items include sugar, noodles, palm oil, roofing sheets, toilet paper, facial tissue and towel, chocolates, Portland cement, clinker and mosquito coil.
Other items also include vehicles, ceramic tiles, aluminium products, cartons, textiles, fruit juices, among others.
Sharing his views on the issue with Omanhene Adu Boakye of Kesben Television, Mr. Appiah Kubi said a lot of working capital has been affected by Covid-19.
Freight charges he noted, have sky-rocketed making the cost of importation so high.
He is calling for a relook at the decision of government.
“Whoever is advising government is not doing government any good. It should be a gradual thing. It should not be that drastic and dramatic like it is right now.
“If you increase and he also lays off employees, what have you achieved? You have not achieved anything. If you want to support businesses, let’s look at how we can support local producers and how we can also help the importer. So it becomes a win win but not to rid of one side of the business,” he stated.
In his view, it is a known fact that majority of the economy is run by the importers and for that matter removing the benchmark values without care would end up making the economy worse than before.
Mr. Kusi Appiah Kubi’s views add to the numerous calls by the business community cautioning government against the 50 percent reduction in benchmark values for some imported products by the Ghana Revenue Authority.
Source: Modern Ghana