Joe Jackson, the Director of Operations at Dalex Finance, has criticized the 2024 budget, presented on November 15 in Parliament by Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta.
The Budget, he said, is “empty” and provides no relief for the common man in the country.
During a post-budget discussion on Metro TV, Mr. Jackson stated that the government is broke and lacks the necessary funds to implement programs that will have a real impact on the livelihood of Ghanaians.
“All expectations from the 2024 budget were misguided because there was nothing in the budget. Ghana is badly broke and the man in the street has to understand that Government is “kwatrekwa”, there is no money.
“Our behaviour (borrowing excessively) hasn’t changed and so nothing will change for the man in the street,” he noted.
Referencing the eight tax reliefs granted by the Government in the 2024 budget, Mr Jackson observed that the tax reliefs will have very little impact on Ghanaians.
“There is no relief for the common man despite the introduction of the eight tax reliefs announced in the budget.
“So government waives import duties on electric vehicles, let me ask, how many Ghanaians own electric vehicles? Government says zero VAT on locally produced sanitary pads, meanwhile, there is only one local producer of sanitary pads in the country with the rest being foreign and imported,” he argued.
“For me and most Ghanaians, the only relief is the decline in inflation which affects prices of goods and services, particularly food prices,” Joe Jackson added.
The month of October experienced a notable deceleration in year-on-year inflation, with figures dropping from 38.1% in September to 35.2%, according to data released by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).
This moderation is primarily attributed to a marginal reduction in food inflation during the period. The GSS report delineates that food inflation stood at 44.8%, overshadowing the non-food inflation rate of 27.7%.
Regarding the announced tax reliefs by the Finance Minister in the 2024 budget, they are as follows;
- Extend zero rate of VAT on locally manufactured African prints for two (2) more years;
- Waive import duties on import of electric vehicles for public transportation for a period of 8 years;
- Waive import duties on semi-knocked down and completely knocked down Electric vehicles imported by registered EV assembly companies in Ghana for a period of 8 years;
- Extend zero rate of VAT on locally assembled vehicles for 2 more years;
- Zero rate VAT on locally produced sanitary pads;
- Grant import duty waivers for raw materials for the local manufacture of sanitary pads;
- Grant exemptions on the importation of agricultural machinery equipment and inputs and medical consumables, raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry;
- A VAT flat rate of 5 percent to replace the 15 percent standard VAT rate on all commercial properties will be introduced to simplify administration.