Lead Partner of the Tax and Regulatory Services at Deloitte, George Ankomah, says while the new tax exemptions in the 2024 budget are a step in the right direction, there is more to be done to stimulate Ghana’s manufacturing scene.

He was speaking concerning the litany of locally manufactured goods that have been granted a zero VAT rate in the 2024 budget statement.

Speaking on Newsfile on Saturday, Mr. Ankomah noted that while the exemptions are very much needed to ensure industrial growth, there needs to be more transparency in the process to ensure fairness and accountability.

He said, “Exemptions are granted to attract investment in certain areas. So definitely you cannot discount the need for tax exemptions, but you ask yourself where are the exemptions going?

“I’m not aware of which companies are being granted the exemptions but as I said it is good if we have an exemption policy as we have and ensure that it is actually utilized for the purpose for which it was designed and giving exemptions to sectors specific where we need to boost our economy.”

He added that while the new exemptions are welcomed, the persisting high inflation and high cost of doing business in the country diminishes whatever impact the exemptions create.

He urged government to address the teething economic challenges in the country to enable manufacturers truly benefit from these tax waivers.

“We have become an import dependent economy, and we still have the situation of cost of doing business being very high, inflation very high, cost of funding very high, for which reason it’s very very difficult for businesses to survive,” he said.

On Wednesday, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta announced tax waivers on locally manufactured sanitary pads, locally printed African cloths and several other commodities.

This, Deputy Trade Minister, Dr. Stephen Amoah indicated was to stimulate growth in the manufacturing sector which experienced negative growth last year.