A Deputy Finance Minister, Kwaku Kwarteng, has charged the new board of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) to be focused on revenue mobilization. The nine-member board was inaugurated by the Deputy Finance Minister.

The board chaired by Harry Owusu also has GRA’s Commissioner-General Kofi Nti and a Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Millison Narh, as members.

The board among other things is tasked with the duties of developing strategic and relevant means of mobilizing revenue for the country.

Speaking at the inauguration, Deputy Finance Minister Kwaku Kwarteng says the board should be determined to carry out its duties to the benefit of the country as it remains the main agency for revenue mobilization.

“Government is charging this new board to effectively work towards ensuring that there is a renaissance within GRA,” he said, “leading to improvements in its operations and achieving revenue targets.”

Mr Kwarteng said the country’s middle-income status had imposed the demand for increased domestic resource mobilization in achieving economic and social prosperity as aid flows from donors have dwindled.

He urged the board to bring their experiences to bear to ensure that tax administration was properly aligned with the country’s economic and development goals. On his part, board chair Harry Owusu pledged their diligence in reaching the target for 2017.

He added that the board will not fail in its mandate and sought the support for the Ministry to fully perform.