Senior Lecturer at the Economics Department of the University of Ghana Dr. Ebo Turkson says the GHC20 billion revenue target set out by government in the 2021 budget is achievable.

According to him, the new taxes being proposed by government will help to achieve the revenue target.

Government announced the new revenue target in the 2021 budget read by the Caretaker Finance Minister Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu last week before Parliament.

Speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr, Dr. Turkson said the country will require more revenue to be able to achieve its aims in the budget.

“What is important is to raise more revenue and I’m sure the GRA will meet its target because of the new levies imposed. If the economy is going to recover, don’t forget these new taxes are going to bring in some revenue. I think our target is achievable”.

On borrowing, he said: “I think we’d have to borrow a little bit more to do what we have to do. I don’t think there’s been a time Ghana will not have to borrow.”

Meanwhile, former Finance Minister Seth Terkper has described the 2021 budget as an austere budget.

According to him, the budget is a reflection of the declining revenue generation by the government.

“The 2021 budget is an austere budget and it’s chickens coming home to roost. We have been going down on revenue generation by 5 percentage points from 2017 till now. We don’t have room and we should be cautious on the expenditure side. That’s the reality.

“We set out in 2020 to bring in GHC 67bn. We revised it to GHC53bn so if GRA is able to meet the GHC53bn, they have met the revised target and not the original target,” he told Francis Abban during a discussion on the 2021 budget statement Tuesday.

The government in the budget statement introduced new taxes, a situation that has stirred intense debate around the country.

The Energy Sector Recovery Levy, Covid-19 Health Levy, and Sanitation and Pollution Levy are some of the revenue generation measures announced.