A Fellow of the Institute of Charted Economists-Ghana (ICEG) Joe Jackson has warned things are going to be difficult in the days to come.
According to Mr. Jackson, the country’s economy has hit the walls, saying sooner or later the managers of the economy would be heading to International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a possible bailout.
“Tough times ahead for us, we should prepare for what is coming. We have hit the walls,” he said on ‘Citi FM’s Big Issue on Saturday, October 23, 2021.
The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, speaking at a graduation ceremony at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), on October 18, 2021, told fresh graduates from the various tertiary institutions to find innovative ways of becoming entrepreneurs.
According to him, that is the only way the rising unemployment rate in the country can be reduced, adding that the move will help reduce the over-reliance on the government for jobs and also reduce the burden on the government’s payroll.
“That payroll is full because we are spending some 60% of our revenue on remunerating some 650,000 people. That is not sustainable.”
In two weeks, the Finance Minister will be in Parliament to deliver a close of year statement to Ghanaians.
However, Joe Jackson said Ghanaians should brace up for some harsh economic decisions that are likely to be contained in the Finance Minister’s presentation.
Mr. Jackson anticipated government will introduce some new taxes in order to try to shore up the country’s revenue.
“We will pay more taxes, the government will introduce more taxes,” he lamented.
In his recommendation, Mr. Jackson called on the government to focus on taxing the “wealthy” in the society, shunning the phenomenon of exempting companies and ‘rich people’ in the country.
He also said the government should intensify the collection of property tax, saying that will help “greatly in adding to our income.”