No new taxes in Thursday’s mid-year budget review - John Kumah

There will be no new taxes to be introduced in the mid-year budget review to be delivered in Parliament by the Minister of Finance on Thursday, July 29, a Deputy Minister has confirmed.

“I can tell you that there will no introduction of taxes in the mid-year budget review,” John Ampontuah Kumah told TV3 on Monday, July 26.

This comes in the wake of reports that finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta will introduce new taxes to stem the tide of rising debt stock.

The Minority in Parliament has already suggested that government must go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for urgent debt relief as a result of the current debt stock.

The caucus claims failure of the government to do so immediately could plunge the country into unsustainable economic crisis by February, 2023.

"The Akufo-Addo-Bawumia government must seek urgent debt relief from the International Monetary Fund through the newly proposed Debt Relief Initiative, known as the Common Framework for Debt Treatments Beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), which can be likened to the HIPC Initiative,” the Member of Parliament for Ajumako-Enyan-Essiam Constituency, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, suggested at a Policy Dialogue on Monday, July 26.

But this suggestion has been countered by the Deputy Finance Minister, who says as far as this government is concerned, IMF is out of the books.

“I can tell you we are not going to IMF today or tomorrow, not as far as this government is concerned. Maybe when the NDC comes back to power in future and they want to take Ghana back to the IMF, we will do that,” he told journalists.

He also added that prudent measures other than new taxes will be announced by his boss on the floor of Parliament on Thursday.