Intended Economic Reforms are in Alignment with IMF Bailout Regulations Bawumia Assures

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has made it known to the media that his economic agenda is in tangent with the guidelines stipulated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

According to the flgabearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), the proposal to abolish taxes is a well-thought-through proposal taking into cognisance, the regulations regarding the IMF bail-out programme Ghana went into.

Dr. Bawumia maintained that, scrapping of the e-levy, introduction of a tax amnesty, and the implementation of a flat tax regime, will not impact the country’s revenue streams and interrupt the IMF-backed stabilization measures as argued by some economic scholars.

He emphasised that his policy framework would support the objectives of the IMF programme while also addressing Ghana’s countless economic obstacles.

Dr. Bawumia told the media on Sunday that, “I don’t see any inconsistency at all between what I am proposing and the Fund programme that we are engaged in. If you read my proposals very carefully, I start by saying we are going to bring down government expenditure by 3% of GDP. The proposals in terms of the tax cuts I am proposing will not even come up to 0.5% of GDP."

“So you have more than enough space to fund what I am talking about. I think the issue at the end of the day for the programme is to make sure we sustain fiscal sustainability,” the Vice President said.

Dr. Bawumia further highlighted his proposal of amending Ghana’s Fiscal Responsibility Act to first make the Fiscal Responsibility Council independent akin to the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana that will have oversight of fiscal responsibility and “a tighter fiscal rule where expenditure will not exceed 105% of the previous year’s tax revenue”.Kobina Darlington/