The government has listened to the calls of Ghanaians not to introduce new taxes in its 2023 Mid-Year Budget Review.

Presenting the budget review statement at parliament on Monday, July 31, 2023, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced that the government was not going to introduce new taxes.

He added that because the government is committed to staying within its budgeted expenditure for the year it would not ask for a supplementary budget for 2023.

"This Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review has outlined the strategy for re-aligning our Programme to sustain our progress to stability.

"We have not asked for additional funding. We have not asked for new tax measures. We have committed to stay within appropriation and be even more efficient in mobilising resources and managing expenditure,” Ofori-Atta said.

Prior to the presentation of the mid-year budget review statement, many Ghanaians including experts urged the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government not to introduce new taxes; warning it might have disastrous consequences on businesses and the livelihood of ordinary Ghanaians.

In a Facebook post shared on July 31, 2023, the President and Founder of IMANI Africa, Franklin Cudjoe, said that one of the reasons the government cannot introduce new taxes in the mid-year budget review is that taxation is a lazy way of raising revenue.

He added that the government introducing new taxes would adversely affect business and would be a reverse of President Akufo-Addo's manifesto promise to move the country from taxation to production.

BAI/OGB

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