THE Convention People’s Party (CPP) and the People’s National Convention (PNC) have patted the government on the back for taking bold decisions in initiating policies that would generate revenue for the country.
They, however, described the government’s budget statement for 2012 as “bold but not bold enough” to redeem the country from the shackles of constant and increasing dependence on donor support.
Reacting to the 2012 Budget and Economic Policy of the government presented to Parliament on Wednesday, the two political parties tagged it as “moderate” with some expectations met while others remained an illusion.
Mr Ivor Kobina Greenstreet, the General Secretary of the CPP, welcomed the bold decision by the government to increase the corporate tax rate for mining companies from the current 26 per cent to 35 per cent and a windfall tax of 10 per cent, as well as the continuation of social interventions such as the provision of free school uniforms and textbooks and other poverty alleviation programmes.
He said all these bold decisions to generate revenue must be backed with concrete and concerted efforts at ensuring that they were implemented to derive the needed revenue.
“These bold decisions need to be complemented with far-reaching institutionalised policy to add value to our raw materials to create jobs and change the economic and social status of the majority of the people who are poor,” he added
He added that the feat chalked up by the government in the area of micro economic stability, particularly with the downward trend in inflation and interest rates, were laudable but added that these must be translated into creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youth and the creation of wealth for the poor in society.
Mr Greenstreet wondered what benefit it would be for the country if it continued to attain low inflationary rates but sectors like manufacturing and hospitality, whose activities have a direct bearing on the ordinary Ghanaian, were not accelerating in growth.
He described as dangerous the recent phenomenon where almost everything used in Ghana, from tooth pick to furniture, were being imported into the country at the expense of local industry and urged the government to refrain from paying lip-service to support local industries to grow and ensure that they were given the needed assistance to compete with their international counterparts.
On the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), Mr Greenstreet said the CPP fully supported such social interventions but expressed worry that the government had not been able to implement its own initial commitment.
He said it was strange that almost all the initial amounts promised yearly for the realisation of the objective had not been provided, and expressed doubts about the government’s move to organise meetings with donors to raise the needed funds.
Mr Bernard Mornah, the General Secretary of the PNC, commended the government for reforms in the personal tax to accommodate inflation and compensate for the erosions of disposable income of people, saying that this would allow those in the lower brackets space and give them some disposable income to spend.
He was full of praise for the government for taking the bull by the horn to increase corporate taxes for mining companies from the current 25 per cent to 35 per cent.
He said it was unacceptable for mining companies to enter mining concessions, expose the environment to poisonous substances, pollute water bodies and destroy the vegetation and after that, all the country got was some paltry five per cent as revenue, “while the whopping 95 per cent of the income goes to some people playing golf somewhere”.
When the Daily Graphic hit town to interact with people in the markets and the streets on the budget, many of them said they did not listen to the reading of the budget. Others were not even aware that the 2012 budget was read last Wednesday, while the few who commented, expressed divergent views.
A chartered accountant, Thomas Agbasi, stressed the need to build consensus on the $3 billion Chinese loan deal to enable the government to undertake development projects.
He expressed worry about the fact that the budget did not give enough indication of job creation, especially for the youth.
For his part, George Anokye, who described himself as a civil servant, said the GHc1 million budgeted for media development was very good because it would enable the media to perform efficiently and not do things that could plunge the country into civil conflict.
He said the support to develop the music industry was also laudable because it was the first time a government had taken such an initiative and expressed the hope that the government would do everything it had projected in the budget.
At the Tema Station, a shoe seller, Kwabena Ofori, said he expected the government to create markets for hawkers, since the Hawkers Market at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle was inadequate.
He said business, especially for hawkers, was bad these days and so it was difficult for him to cater for his family.
The Chief Executive Officer of Imani Ghana, Mr Franklin Cudjoe, said the budget might have met the expectations of the government but as to whether it met the expectations of the people was another issue.
He expressed scepticism about the achievement of a one-time premium pay policy under the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), which the government intends to implement next year.
Mr Cudjoe said the fact that the government kept postponing the implementation of the policy since it took office in 2009, meant it would be difficult to execute it.
On the projection of GHc1.24 billion from the export of crude oil in the 2012 fiscal year, he said there was nothing wrong in making such a projection.
He said if that huge revenue projection was achieved, it would be a shot in the arm of the government and facilitate infrastructural development in the country.
Mr Cudjoe had problems with the budget of GHc1 million for media development, describing the reason for that budget as too vague.
He said there should be a specific indication as to what the money would be used for and not just captured as a budget for media development.
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