Reversal of benchmark value discount suspended following Prez Akufo-Addo’s orders
To create more room for broader stakeholder consultations on the reversal of benchmark values, President Akufo-Addo has directed the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority to pull the breaks on the implementation of the policy.
According to reports, the decision is also to enable the concerns of traders to be adequately heard, before a final decision is taken on the matter.
Already, consultations are said to have begun in earnest, with a consensus to be reached by January 17, 2021.
The new directive from the President comes after the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) deferred the implementation of the reversal of the benchmark value policy to Monday, January 17, 2022, which is an additional 10 days. This follows the previous deferment from January 4, 2022 to January 6, 2022.
The deferment of the implementation of the policy reversal on Thursday, January 6, 2022, follows a meeting between the Finance Ministry and stakeholders on Thursday afternoon. This meeting afforded the leadership of GUTA, AGI and the IEAG the opportunity to state their positions on the policy and how it would impact their operations.
The Ministry of Finance initially was expected to announce its final decision on the reversal of the implementation of the benchmark value policy following a meeting between the Finance Ministry and stakeholders Thursday afternoon as the leadership of GUTA, AGI and the IEAG who were in the meeting had the opportunity to state their positions on the policy and how it would impact their operations.
But the leadership of the AGI and GUTA in separate interviews held opposing views on the policy and expressed hope that the Ministry would soon state it’s position on the matter to bring finality to the disagreements surrounding the policy.
Following this development, scores of aggrieved individuals decried the policy and called on the government to rescind the decision accordingly.
In this regard, the opposition National Democratic Congress organized a press conference addressed by the party’s National Communication Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, and called on the GRA to reverse its decision.
Read: Benchmark Value: GUTA dismiss claims association failed to reduce price of goods
“Any policy that seeks to increase import duties and ultimately the prices of goods, will lead to more hardships in the country. The sensible thing for the government to do under the circumstances if they are genuinely minded to support AGI and boost local production is to reduce the cost of doing business and the factors of production by stabilizing the Ghana cedi, reducing the tax burden on businesses, and by ensuring that businesses have access to cheaper credit, low utility tariffs, and subsidized inputs. This is the surest and sustainable way of boosting local production without necessarily increasing the level of hardships in the country.
In conclusion, we wish to make the point, that Ghanaians have had enough of the deception and callousness of the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia/NPP government.
The NDC holds the view, that this is not the time for more taxes and draconian revenue measures such as the reversal of benchmark value discounts. We share in the view expoused by GUTA that the GRA withdraws the statement announcing this measure which will only go a long way to stifle the already burdened businesses in the country”, he said.
But in a quick response, a Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr John Kumah, expressed that the assertions of the NDC on the reversal of the benchmark value discount is a deception which will not help in nation building.
Responding to the NDC’s press conference, Dr Kumah, said the views shared by the largest opposition party in the country were regrettable and pedestrian.
“Perhaps, if the NDC had done a little research, it would have unearthed the countless benefits that government and local businesses would accrue from reversing this policy.
“Moreover, the thrust of NDC’s presser appears ill-informed and inconsistent with its 2020 Manifesto “Edwuma Pa Plan”, where they promised to prioritise local production for rapid industrialisation, job creation and entrepreneurship,” he stated.
He said the benchmark value discount policy in the first place was a creation of the New Patriotic Party government in 2019 and it was therefore strange that the NDC party, who in their eight years in power, never saw the need for such a policy suddenly emerge as defenders of the policy.
Meanwhile, as the disagreement continues with the policy by stakeholders, the government has directed its reversal for the concerns of traders to be “sufficiently considered before a decision on implementation and its timing is finally taken”.
