The Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) is calling on the government to urgently work with the Bank of Ghana to find innovative ways of addressing the high inflation in the economy.
This is part of its propositions for government to consider in the 2023 Mid-Year Budget Review.
According to the Chamber, addressing the high inflation will help businesses to secure funds for expansion and recovery from the impact of COVID-19.
The continuous increases in the policy rate and in effect lending rate, the Chamber said, are adversely affecting key productive sectors as well as the overall growth of the industrial and service sector.
Again, it pointed out that, “Supply-side constraint should be explored as the current inflation trend shows clearly that the problem is not solely a monetary issue”.
Expand tax net instead of introducing new ones
The Chamber also urged the government to find innovative ways of increasing the efficiency of the tax administration and expanding the tax net instead of introducing new taxes and increasing tax rate.
It emphasised that the tax reforms are driving up the cost of production and stifling the growth of the private sector.
“Immediate measures are necessary to safeguard and promote domestic businesses and the private sector. This is crucial to prevent any adverse effects on the government’s efforts to accelerate industrialization, boost exports, generate employment, and achieve sustainable growth”.
“As previously mentioned, the government should utilize the mid-year budget review as an opportunity to provide relief to domestic businesses”, it stated.
Find a lasting solution to debt owed IPPs
Furthermore, the GNCCI, said the impasse between the government and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) with its associated intermittent threat of power cuts are unfavorable signal for domestic businesses.
It, therefore, appealed to the government to find a lasting solution to the impasse as any power cut will severely affect businesses.