ghananlpcommunity/ghana-gov-speeches-sentences huggingface dataset:
There is an estimated 1.6 million contributors in SSNIT’s database while GRA have 1.2 million people contributing to PAYE.
Also, the informal sector is estimated at 70% of the economy but contributes only 7% of business income taxes to the State.
In recent McKinsey study, it is established that between GHS24 to GHS30 billion in taxes could be raised if system and processes were efficient.
TAX TYPE GHS’ BILLION Corporate Income Tax (CIT) 3-6 Value Added Tax (VAT) 13-14 Customs 5-6 Personal Income Tax (PIT) 3-4 Benchmark Indicator Item LTO’s Current status Peer Market Benchmark Audit revenue per auditor $2.4 million $4.7 million Taxpayers per auditor 17 550 Audit duration per taxpayer 33 work days 11 work days Purpose: Some officers in charge of auditing in this Authority sometimes get away with unprofessional deeds and malpractices because, no one audits their work after they are done.
Periods audited are never revisited and therefore, so many wrong doing during the audit period is buried upon the issuance of the audit report, now we want to resurrect these.
This attitude is also affecting the level of self-assessment as over time, taxpayers have realized that, there is no motivation to declare tax liabilities accurately.
There should be an “audit the Auditor concept” because once auditors know that their work may be reviewed periodically, they will not compromise on the integrity of their work and unsatisfactorily reduce tax liabilities.
As the supervisory Ministry, MoF deems it fit to ensure that its supervisory role is achieved in this era of ensuring Ghana Beyond Aid and job creation.
Over the years, the Ministry of Finance has really not played its supervisory role as expected but it’s ready now to ensure the rigorous supervision enshrined in the PFM Act going forward.
Next Step Rules: The creation of this Unit is to ensure that tax audits by officers are interrogated and reviewed to ensure audit quality is assured; To harmonised and streamline tax audit to avoid multiple of audits of the same tax types and same periods of the same taxpayer; the state must never be seen to be coercive for citizens to feel suppressed and subject to the whines of an uncoordinated GRA; To supervise, coordinate, manage and consolidate all audits in GRA; To promote and enhance best practices in tax audit and tax excellence with professionalism at GRA; To ensure tax audit compliance and enforcement reforms in moving Ghana Beyond Aid;
DISTINGUISHED OUTGOING CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS HONOURABLE GOVERNORS ALTERNATE GOVERNORS, DR.
AKINWUNMI ADESINA, PRESIDENT ELECT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS, THE VICE PRESIDENT, AfDB, Ms.
SWAZI TSHABALALA, SECRETARY-GENERAL, AfDB, PROF.
VINCENT DISTINGUISHED GUESTS – LADIES AND GENTLEMEN Thank you very much for coming to witness the occasion of the swearing-in the President-Elect, Dr Akinwumi “Akin” Adesina, of the African Development Bank Group.
This ceremony is historic in the sense that this is the first time an electronic voting system has been used to elect a President of the Bank, the first time a sitting President seeking re-election has received a unanimous endorsement (obtaining a 100% from both regional and non-regional members of the Bank) and the first time a swearing-in has been telecast.
Covid is forcing us to reimagine our future.
The African Development Bank has, under your leadership, been integral to the spurt of economic growth on the continent in recent years.
The reorganization of management and the restructuring of the Bank’s operations around the High 5s, which represent a response to Africa’s more critical development needs was and is indicative of your ability to foresee and design appropriate solutions for the times.
The dynamism witnessed in this Bank in the last 5 years, was epitomized in the success of the historic 125 per cent General Capital Increase (GCI-VII) from $93billion to $208billion, the largest capital increase in the Bank’s history.
In addition, in these uncertain times, you have demonstrated leadership through the $10 billion COVID-19 Response facility to assist member countries to protect lives and livelihoods and revitalize our economy.
Mr President, your historic re-election was cast in the shadows of an unprecedented time.
Africa is facing a double crisis: health and economic crises due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
We are in the middle of the first recession in sub Saharan Africa in the last 25 years and a depression which may last well over 3 years.
Many of our economies are facing economic contractions (of up to 15% of GDP) and severe liquidity challenges.
We stand the risk of between 26 million to 39 million Africans being pushed into extreme poverty.
We urgently need liquidity and debt sustainability solutions in order to truly recover from this pandemic.
Currently, it is estimated that Africa needs US$100 Billion a year over the next 3 years to combat the effects of the pandemic.
These are not normal times.
We need tailored, African solutions to our problems; as Africa's premier bank, the AfDB is best suited to lead this role in such a time as this.
Mr President, Africa has made tremendous progress in achieving the African Continental Free Trade Area.
The AfCFTA is bringing together 55 African countries with a combined population of about 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of more than US$2.5 trillion.
The AfCFTA is expected to consolidate the African market, making it easier for its businesses to reach greater economies of scale, promote the development of regional value chains and lower costs of trading for businesses.
According to a study undertaken by UNECA, the AfCFTA can significantly boost intra-African trade from 12% to 52% by 2022.
A 1% increase in trade, $90 billion in revenue for the continent.
A focused implementation of the AfCFTA will accelerate the implementation of the Bank’s High 5 priorities, the AU Agenda 2063 and Africa’s recovery from the pandemic.
The AfCFTA is a critical step in our collective vision for an Africa Beyond Aid.
Ghana is humbled and privileged to host the AfCFTA Secretariat.
President, but we must digitalize Africa if we are to be effective in providing services to our people and generating our deserved taxes.
We cannot continue to lose $70 billion to illicit flows.
We cannot continue with an average tax to GDP ratio of 17% versus 34%.
In the OECD countries, Africa’s tax revenue of $439 billion could be approximately $ 900 billion.
We can then fund our own development.
How do we reimagine the Africa that we have to leverage its national and human resources to eliminate poverty and become the Eden of prosperity and human rights for the next generation?
President, Governors, we must question fundamental… for need ecclesia.
• Why are commodity exchanges not on the continent?
• Why do we pay an “African” premium when we go to the markets?
• Why are we subject to the whims of the rating agencies?
• Why do we keep our sovereign wealth outside and borrow at usury rates?
• Why do we spend so much on insurance premium?
• Why do we still lose $ 70 billion from illicit financial flows?
• Why do we have $100 billion of AUMs earning marginal, sub-par, and negative earnings and Africa does not have the $ 100 billion needed annually for its infrastructure?
There are many more global institutional arrangement with deep unconscious bias against the continent.
The AfDB should work with Finance Ministers and the ACBF to tackle these as a matter of urgency.
Let me not miss the issue of digitalization of Africa.
Let me use this opportunity to once again thank Madam Kaba for her wisdom in guiding us to achieve this miraculous show of unity.
I also want to acknowledge the non-regionals and the US for rising to a call for the good of the Bank.
This show of Collective Trust will be built up during my tenure.
We will fundamentally review our governance protocols to be world class by the AfDB and Africa into the new dawn.
The fierce urgency of now is upon us!
Mr President, in the last few months, our discussions and deliberations have focused on the governance of the Bank.
These conversations highlight the urgency to reposition the Bank as a world-class institution capable of “Building Resilience for a Post-COVID-19 Africa”.
We need to continue to steer and direct the Bank’s efforts to setting global standards of excellence, integrity, commitment to service and responsiveness to the challenges of the Continent.
Mr President, we also have an opportunity to pursue economic justice for our people.
There has never been a more opportune time to challenge the global financial infrastructure that is inherently biased towards Africa.
We stand at the precipice of history; we will have to answer the question posterity will ask of our leadership: “What did you do to challenge the unjust systems?”
As I reflect on your fortitude and commitment in the face of our recent challenges, I am reminded of the Adinkra symbol, Mframadan, which is a symbol of resilience and readiness.
It is my firm belief that this historic victory is only the beginning of greater things to come.
I am in no doubt that we have secured the right leadership to drive us towards these and other exciting expectations.
We must muster the needed courage and will to push further the frontiers of transforming the Continent.
On our part, we the Board of Governors will remain resolute in our duty and support the President and Management of this Bank.
I truly believe in the manifest destiny of Africa.
I know that your second tenure as President of the Africa Development Bank will be characterised by a period of rapid transformation towards the realization of the vision of an Africa Beyond Aid: A Beautiful Africa!
Akin, let me leave you with a poem from Louis Urterneger which seeks to caption the chemistry of Faith and doubt (humility) working together for great good: Ever insurgent let me be Make me more daring than devout From sleek contentment set me free And fill me with buoyant doubt!
So go forth with God’s Spirit of humility and unity to serve Africa.
President, you earned a new mandate in a most historic fashion.
We are expectant; Africa is expectant; This is the charge to you; A continent to serve and God to glorify.
So Akin lead us with a spirit of courage, love and self-discipline and together, speaking one language we will build a righteous and prosperous Africa for all to God’s Glory.
Congratulations once again, Dr.
Adesina, for making the Continent proud.
Thank you and God bless our Continent.
Greetings Ladies and Gentlemen; and welcome once again to the Launch and Presentation of the 2020 SDGs Budget Report.
With less than 9 years to 2030 - the deadline for realizing the Sustainable Development Goals - the government of Ghana concurs with the United Nations on the need for accelerated action to enable us to realise these ambitious yet critical objectives that we have set for ourselves in the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Pandemic has exacerbated the challenges of achieving the Global and Country level SDG Goals – but we cannot despair.
Reasons for developing the SDGs Budget Report In 2018 when the SDGs Baseline Report was launched, we recognized the challenges that countries were facing with accessing critical financing for the implementation of the SDGs; aligning our domestic budget to the SDGs was the first step towards optimizing our current financial resources for Agenda 2030; and how this process could place government in a better position to encourage the injection of more private capital in the implementation of the SDGs.
Observations from the 2019 and 2020 SDGs Budget Report After the development of the Ghana 2018 SDGs Baseline Budget Report, the Ministry of Finance developed an automated system to generate reports on budget allocations and expenditures towards SDGs targets and goals in all the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies, as well as for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
The new tracking system was developed after new codes were implemented in the national Chart of Account.
By aggregating the information at the target level, total allocations and expenditures at goal level could be tracked – For example, according to the 2019 and 2020 report, Goal 17 (Partnership for the Goals) had the most funding allocated to it - GHs32,082,685,522 in 2019 and GHs34,877,466,156 in 2020, meanwhile Goal 5 (Gender Equality) received 26,191,056 in 2019 and 65,012,082 in 2020, the least to be allocated to a goal at the national level.
Total spending on the SDGs by Government through MDAs came to 31,448,312,790 in 2019 and 35,774,648,335 in 2020; and Rankings by regions also revealed that in both years Greater Accra, Ashanti Region, Northern Region and Eastern Region were among the regions to receive the most funds for the SDGs.
Having the opportunity to view our spending on the SDGs in such an organised transparent manner, annually – enables Government, Private Sector, Developing Partners and our Civil Society Partners to engage in a more constructive manner when it comes to the financing of the Sustainable Development Goals – The SDGs Budgeting Information (i) provides both Private Sector and Multilateral Development Partners the opportunity to determine which goals require more attention, or the MDAs & MMDAs that require financial or technical assistance in working towards the achievement of the Goals.
It also provides the Government the opportunity to adjust its allocations to ensure the equitable distribution of resources across MDAs & and MMDAs.
provides insight into resource distribution at the local level – such as which Assemblies are receiving the most or least in funding towards the implementation of the SDGs locally.
Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen.
I thank you for honoring our invitation to this Press Conference.
On Friday, 26th November 2021, the Parliament of Ghana was scheduled to sit and conclude the debate on the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy of Government.
After the closing statements from both the Majority and Minority leaders, the Speaker gave me the opportunity to make a statement to the House.
During the statement, I prayed the House to be given the opportunity to engage further with the Minority on the demands they have raised in their closing remarks.
Unfortunately, my request was declined.
I had requested this opportunity to engage with the Minority because I believed that the tradition of consensus in approving the budget that we had nurtured over the last 5 years was important for our National resolve and determination to be united in transforming our society.
The Budget was subsequently approved on Tuesday 30th November 2021.
However, during my statement on that day, I promised to respond to the concerns of the Minority after further consultations with stakeholders, which I have now done.
On behalf of The President, I have written to the Right Hon.
Speaker of Parliament with details of modifications in response to emerging concerns by all stakeholders including the Minority.
Please allow me to update the people of Ghana on what we have proposed.
with regards to Agyapa Royalties Ltd, we shall amend paragraphs 442 and 443 to take out references to mineral royalties collateralisation.
It is important to note that, any reference to Agyapa was for informational purposes, and as such was not reflected in the fiscal framework; in respect of the unfortunate tidal waves which rendered about 3,000 people homeless in Keta, we shall make the necessary budgetary allocations of at least GHS10 million to complete the Feasibility and Engineering studies for the coastal communities adversely affected.
We will broaden the scope of the study to consider a more comprehensive solution to protect Ghana’s 540 Km of coastline, including the 149 Km between Aflao and Prampram.
Meanwhile, NADMO has responded to the humanitarian crisis created by the tidal waves on the Keta coastline; relating to the Aker Energy transaction, we shall amend paragraph 829 of the 2022 Budget on the acquisition of a stake from Aker Energy and AGM Petroleum by GNPC, to reflect the resolution of Parliament dated 6th July 2021 that “the terms and conditions of the loan for the acquisition of the shares shall be brought to Parliament for consideration pursuant to article 181 of the Constitution; and on the benchmark values, we shall avert any hardships to importers and consumers while safeguarding the interest of local manufacturing industries to secure and expand jobs for our people.
This administrative exercise which reviewed 43 out of 81 line items, has the objective to promote local manufacturing and the 1D1F policy, including the assembling of vehicles.
It is important to note that this adjustment affects only 11.4% of the total CIF value, of which 50% is for vehicles.
From our analysis, the potential increase in retail prices should be relatively insignificant and therefore inflation should be muted.
The YouStart policy will also support our accomplished Traders with appropriate training and access to capital to become Manufacturers in order to expand the industrial base of our society and our import substitution strategy, in line with our Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.
His Excellency, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana The Chairman, Nana Akuamoah Agyapong II, Daasebre Kwahuhene and President of the Kwahu Traditional Council The Honorable Minister for Employment and Labor Relations, The Honorable Minister for Education, The Honorable Minister for Public Enterprises, The Honorable Regional Minister for the Eastern Region, Deputy Ministers Present, Chairman of the Trade Union Congress, Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), President of the Ghana Employers Association, Distinguished Members of the Tripartite, Director, ILO Anglophone West Africa and Liaison Officer for ECOWAS Invited Guests Members of the Media Ladies and Gentlemen Nana Chairman, it is a pleasure to honour the invitation to speak on the sub-theme “ The State of the Economy ” at the National Labour Conference under the overall theme “ Strengthening Tripartism for Building Peaceful Labour Relations and Resilient Economy” .
Nana Chairman, this conference couldn’t have been held at a better time as the times we found ourselves in today need all-hands-on-deck to contribute towards a sustainable recovery from the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
At the end of the day, the various roles we all play in national development culminates into what happens in the economy.
The bottom line is to improve the economy and provide opportunities for the people, including employment opportunities, to better their lives.
It is for this reason that the link between peaceful labour relations and resilient economy in the theme is most appropriate.
Nana Chairman, promoting this kind of dialogue amongst the Tripartite Partners is a critical part of economic policy management and especially so at this time when we find ourselves amid a number of labour agitations in the process of recovering from the scaring effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even though there are existing platforms (including the National Tripartite Committee and the Social Partnership Council) to address labour issues for national development, I am confident that a national labour conference of this kind will afford us the opportunity to properly and honestly dialogue on these issues and find a common approach to addressing them.
As we dialogue at this forum on ways to address and resolve these challenges, we need to ensure that the solutions we proffer will promote sustainability of public finances and macroeconomic stability which are necessary for the development that we are all looking for.
Nana Chairman, there are great models of social partnership across the globe which have indeed supported national dialogues on the socio-economic issues towards enhanced economic development.
The Irish case is a good example to cite.
Through a carefully planned and well-phased programmes (6 of them between 1988 and 2006), the Irish Social Partners comprising government, employers, trade unions, farming bodies and representatives from community and voluntary sector worked together to increase economic growth, reduce unemployment, improve income inequality, and reduce the national debt.
A critical component of the Irish Model was the reaching of agreement on wage adjustments within sustainable levels over a medium-term period.
As part of measures to ensure irreversibility of macroeconomic gains post the IMF ECF Programme which ended in 2019, H.E.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in 2019, inaugurated the Ghana’s Social Partnership Council with membership from Organised Labour & Associations, Employers Associations, and Government to, among others, provide a mechanism for building and reaching consensus on transformation and development issues with MOU backing the operations of the Council.
The council has been very useful in providing advise, recommendations and inputs into national socio-economic matters including the annual budget, mid-year reviews of fiscal policy, the Covid-19 pandemic, Pay and Compensations matters, etc.
I will like to call on the social partners to strengthen this important Social Partnership mechanism we have to addressing socio-economic issues.
Nana Chairman, the world has changed dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.
The impact of the pandemic on the global economy and specifically on the Ghanaian economy has been dire.
The global economy plunged into a recession in 2020 with global output contracting by 3.1%.
Within the Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) region, growth contracted by 1.7% in 2020 including an estimated 30+ million people falling into extreme poverty due to job losses and a fall in income levels.
Nana Chairman, despite the global recession in 2020 due to the pandemic, Ghana’s economy held up comparatively well with a Real GDP growth of +0.4 percent.
This, however, came at huge cost to public finances as there were significant shortfalls in revenues but additional expenditures had to be incurred to save lives and livelihoods.
The fiscal deficit, therefore rose to 11.7 percent of GDP compared to the original target of 4.7 percent.
In addition, the public debt rose to 76.1 percent of GDP from 61.2 percent in 2019.
These expenditures which were reported in the 2021 Budget included expenditures for: ​​​​​​​ Provision of PPEs, Medical Equipment, Testing Kits & other Logistics, Testing & Treatment; Community Engagements, Communications, and Quarantine; Relief for Health Workers including payment of allowances of 50% of basic salaries for front line health workers, waiver of income tax payments for all health workers; Support to households through provision of cooked food packages, dry food packages, and hot meals in Accra, Tema & Kumasi during the lock-downs; Payment for the provision of free water and relief for payment of electricity bills; Provision of health infrastructure (Agenda 111 and isolation Centres); Security operations, evacuation, and coordination; Soft loans for micro, small and medium-size businesses through the CAPBUS Programme; and Provision for the Stabilization Phase of the Ghana CARES Programme ​​​​​​​ Whiles we protected public sector jobs and ensured that salaries were paid and on time, nonetheless, jobs were lost, and some worker incomes were reduced in the private sector.
The GLSS Business Tracker Survey conducted between May 26 and June 17, 2020, showed that of the 4,311 enterprises surveyed, 35.7% closed their businesses during the partial lockdown whilst 16% remained closed even after the lock-down.
The survey showed that about 41,952 workers were laid off whilst 770,124 workers suffered reduced wages.
​​​​​​​ Nana Chairman, fortunately, we are beginning to see a post pandemic economic recovery with strong rebound to real GDP in 2021 in response to the implementation of the measures we put in place for economic recovery including the Ghana CARES Programme.
For the first three quarters of the 2021, real GDP growth averaged 5.2%.
High frequency indicators including the Bank of Ghana Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA) point to continued momentum in Q4 2021 and this suggests the high likelihood of real GDP growth in 2021 outperforming the projected outturn of 4.4%.