Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) are calling on the government to introduce a comprehensive and efficient national property taxation system, to rake in more revenue for the country.

According to them, there is too much focus on indirect taxes in the country, hence the growing national debt.

Speaking at a forum, Fiscal Policy Analyst at Oxfam Ghana, Alex Ampaabeng, said government should provide a clear-cut strategy for tackling the growing public debt and a pathway to debt sustainability.

"The increment in the VAT is having a disproportionate impact on the poor, the very people the government is trying so hard to save from impact of some indirect taxes. It’s time for us to look at property taxation. I also recommend government must have a clear strategy for tackling growing public debt”.  

Also speaking at the same meeting was the Policy Lead, Climate Change and Energy Transition at the Africa Centre for Energy Policy, Charles Gyamfi Ofori who indicated that government should abandon plans for the import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and optimise the utilisation of domestic gas.

He also called for a collaboration between the private sector and the public sector in the management of the energy sector institutions

“It is shown from research and analysis that given our gas reserves from domestic sources and also from export through the pipeline, Ghana does not need additional import of gas through LNG within the short-to-medium term. We are recommending that government should abandon the importation of LNG products into the country"

The CSOs budget forum comprises of civil society organisations in Ghana with interest on influencing the national budget.