Independent Presidential Candidate in the upcoming general elections, Alan Kyeremanten says imposing Value Added Tax (VAT) on domestic electricity under the current economic condition would worsen the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian.
According to him, government policies under the existing economic climate ought to focus on assuaging the suffering of the masses and not making them worse.
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has instructed the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) to implement a 15% VAT on electricity consumption as part of the government’s COVID-19 recovery programme, aiming to generate additional revenue.
However, in a post on the social media site X, the former trade minister stated that, given Ghanaians’ current hardships, it was not a good time for the Akufo Addo/Bawumia government to burden them with more taxes.
“In the kind of economic situation we find ourselves in, every government policy, plan, or decision, has to have the objective of achieving the following; reduce the cost of living, reduce the cost of doing business, reduce exchange rate, and create sustainable jobs for the youth. Putting VAT on electricity will not achieve any of the above. It would rather worsen the plight of the ordinary Ghanaian,” he said.
The leader of the Movement For Change has promised that if elected in the 2024 general elections, his Great Transformational Plan (GTP) would guide his government to accomplish the above objectives.