The decision by the government to reverse the 50 percent benchmark value on imports will lead to an increase in duty on imported items, A former Deputy Information Minister, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has said.
The reversal is expected to take effect from Tuesday, January 4, 2022.
This will affect 143 items under three categories prescribed by the Ghana Revenue Authority.
The benchmark value, which is the amount taxable on imports, was reduced by 50 percent for some goods. The government had hoped that this was going scale up he volume of transactions of make Ghana’s ports competitive.
The government decided to revers this decision after it ,met opposition from Association of Ghana Industries and the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA).
Sharing his views on this in a Facebook post, Mr Kwakye Ofosu said “It is not clear to me what thinking has gone into the notion in the Bawumia camp that religious gymnastics will repair his battered image occasioned by his disastrous economic performance that has brought untold hardships to Ghanaians.
“One of them is the ridiculously populist benchmark values discounts that yielded no tangible benefits to Ghanaians. It’s reversal, effective Tuesday,4th January,2022,as contained in the letter below, will however lead to an increase in duty on imported items which will quickly be passed on to consumers.
“This is estimated to lead to a 30% increase in the prices of imported items on the market.”
By Laud Nartey|editors.3news.com|Ghana
