The President of the Ghana Union of Traders' Association (GUTA), Dr Joseph Obeng, has highlighted the importance of a thriving private sector to the development of every country.

Speaking on JoyNews’ The Probe on Sunday, the President however expressed concern over the current state of affairs, particularly the challenges facing the private sector.

According to him, the private sector’s misfortunes are primarily due to the taxation on business, thereby, hindering its ability to contribute effectively to the nation’s economic development.

“The private sector needs space to grow. The government has its own principle that we should move from taxation to production and now we’re being overtaxed.

“The cost of doing business is now very expensive and we cannot contain them,” he told host Blessed Sogah.

Dr Obeng who was contributing to a discussion ahead of the mid-year budget review, indicated that the private sector is supposed to be the engine of the growth of the economy.

Thus, he expected the Finance Minister, to remove certain redundant taxes like the Covid-19 levy.

According to him, the aforementioned tax policy has outlived its purpose and must be scrapped.

“It is important to know that the private sector is supposed to be the engine of growth but we are not growing as expected and if that is so, then the economy will also not grow.

“We have to recognize that a vibrant private sector drives every economy in the world. So it is important that we grow the environment for us to achieve the development we so seek,” he said.