Benchmark value reversal will lead to a 30% increment in prices of imported products – Felix Kwakye
A former Deputy Information Minister, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has bemoaned that the government’s intention to reverse the 50 per cent benchmark value on imports will lead to an increase in duty on imported items.
The reversal which was announced in the 2022 budget and expected to take effect from Tuesday, January 4, 2022, will affect 143 items under three categories prescribed by the Ghana Revenue Authority.
The move according to the government will aid scale-up the volume of transactions that will make Ghana’s ports competitive.
But commenting on the move in a Facebook post, Mr Kwakye Ofosu said “It is not clear to me what thinking has gone into the notion in the Bawumia camp that religious gymnastics will repair his battered image occasioned by his disastrous economic performance that has brought untold hardships to Ghanaians.
“One of them is the ridiculously populist benchmark values discounts that yielded no tangible benefits to Ghanaians. Its reversal, effective Tuesday,4th January 2022, as contained in the letter below, will however lead to an increase in duty on imported items which will quickly be passed on to consumers”.
“This is estimated to lead to a 30% increase in the prices of imported items on the market.”
Source: Richard Mensah Adonu | Join our Telegram Group
