Akufo-Addo Failing High Time – Ato Forson

The Minority Spokesperson on Finance, Casiel Ato Forson says the Akufo-Addo led administration is delivering hell to Ghanaians contrary to the juicy promises made prior to the 2016 elections.

According to him, Akufo-Addo’s key promise of moving Ghana’s economy from taxation to production has completely failed to materialise.

“We heard Akufo-Addo before the elections…he said they will move this country from taxation to production. NPP promised heaven but they have delivered and continue to deliver hell to us all,” the former deputy Finance Minister told Morning Starr host Francis Abban Tuesday.

His comment comes after news out there in the media suggests, there will be an increment in taxation during the mid-year budget review yet to be announced by Minister of finance Ken Ofori-Attah.

Ato Forson added “amidst deliberate misrepresentation of the facts about our debt position, its computation and rationale for borrowing, they also claimed to possess the magic to mobilize domestic resources to finance their campaign promises. They dismissed borrowing as “a lazy approach” to economic management and promised a different paradigm.”

“Contrary to these claims, our public debt has ballooned to GH¢ 154 billion (excluding the Energy Bond of GHC 4.7 Billion) as of May, 2018 from GH¢ 122 billion in January, 2017,” he stated noting “it is expected to increase further by GH¢3.8 billion – (1.7 billion + 1.4 billion + 0.7 billion)–should the financing plan specified above, i.e. selling state assets, prepayment of license fees, and monetization of mineral royalties, fail to materialize.”

Government communicators has however dismissed such claims that, there might be an increment in the Value Added Tax(VAT).

According to deputy Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, government is only seeking to widen the tax net and include other working Ghanaians who are not contributing their quota to the nation.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah however assured that government’s decision will only tighten revenue measures to ensure that it delivers on its promises to the people.