Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has expressed his excitement about the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) exceeding its target in 2021.
He said he expect this trend to be sustained because with the new national identification system, about 15.5million are going to be on their books.
The GRA had said it was able to collect 57.32 billion cedis.
This is the highest collection over the last 10 years, according to the GRA.
The figure of GH¢265.39million, above the 2021 target that was 57.055 billion cedis.
The GRA said the performance represents a growth rate of 26.3 percent over the 2020 revenue owing the positive turn of events,
The Domestic Tax Revenue Division collected GH₵41.23 billion. This performance is an improvement of 25.6 percent over the 2020 revenue performance. Similarly, the Customs Division collected an amount of GH₵16.08 billion representing 26.8 percent over the 2020 performance.
2021’s performance also signifies the Highest Ratio of Tax to GDP of 13.4 percent recorded in the last five years. It equally shows that the Highest year on year growth of 26.3 percent was recorded recorded.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday January 19, Mr Ofori Atta said “We are going up by 40 per cent with regards to revenue mobilization and then expenditure is also going up by 25 per cent. We have always been very good about being able to to cut down on expenditure appropriately when we don’t meet our target.
“With this new dawn of GRA exceeding targets, we expect that to continue. With the new national ID system we are now 15.5 million people are going to be on their books.
“That is what gives me the excitement into the future because when I read the Fitch Report, you are doubting that we can make our revenues , I am confident that we can. They are worried that we can’t come to the international market , we are saying its fine, we have our SDRs that will suffice for the first half and then we will figure out another method of getting there.
“So plan B is to stay focused and ensure that we get our E-levy through , ensure that our domestic revenue mobilization is strong and that be, we do not need to go the market.”
By Laud Nartey|editors.3news.com|Ghana
