By Francis Ntow
Accra, Feb. 20, GNA – Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, the Minister of Finance, says the country needed to meet the GHS146 billion target for 2024 in the context of the on-going fiscal consolidation reforms.
He has, therefore, instructed the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to act with urgency to meet revenue commitments made under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) US$3 billion loan-support programme.
Interacting with the Management of GRA in Accra on Monday, Dr Amin Adam, stated that exceeding the revenue target would be crucial in accessing additional funds from the IMF and complete critical infrastructure.
Ghana has received US$1.2bn of the US$3bn under the IMF programme to restore macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability, and to lay the foundation for a stronger and more inclusive growth.
“Achieving and exceeding the targets is critical to the success of the IMF-Extended Credit Facility (ECF) programme. We cannot afford to miss our commitments,” Dr Amin Adam.
The Revenue Authority is to clean its taxpayer register by end-June 2024, complete data migration from all existing portals to the ITA, and operationalise registration, returns filing and payments by the end December 2024.
The Finance Minister asked Management and staff of GRA to work assiduously to honour those obligations and on time to reinforce Ghana’s commitment to stay the course on the IMF programme.
“This will continue to improve business sentiments and have a positive spill-over effect into other areas. We simply have to stay the course,” he said.
He also asked GRA to use the next two-months to leverage on digital solutions under the government’s digitalisation agenda to inform revenue collection decisions by optimising the available data on the GhanaCard, Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority (DVLA), and Lands Commission.
Dr Amin Adam stated that the time had come to roll-out and expand the E-VAT mechanism by reducing the human contact in the revenue processes and introduce a faceless assessment system.
GNA