The government of Ghana has been advised to take cues from other African countries to make the most out of its extractive sector.
The Institute of Fiscal Studies is urging the government to leverage the prospects of the extractive sector as it holds a lot of prospects to fill the revenue gap in the country.
During a press briefing on August 16, 2022, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Fiscal Studies, Dr. Said Boakye, stated that learning from countries such as the Botswana government generates about 52% of revenue from the total value of minerals produced in Botswana and about 95% of the supernormal profit accrued to mineral production in Botswana will increase Ghana’s revenue.
“On the revenue mobilization challenge, the government has to think outside the box and find ways to raise more revenue to bring the country in line with its peers in terms of total revenue to GDP ratio, while making sure that the private sector is not overburdened.”
“This will help create some fiscal space and improve the country’s fiscal outcomes and thus help address the degrading macro environment. Even though IFS supports the government in its digitization drive to improve revenue collection from the informal sector and property tax, we want to reemphasize that the government should pay attention to revenue generation from the country’s extractive sector.”
Dr. Boakye stated that the extractive sector’s revenues should not be allowed to go into private pockets while the government wallows in borrowing.
Source: Ghana Web
