The Executive Director of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers, Ghana, (COPEC-Ghana), Duncan Amoah, has asked the government to reduce taxes in order to strengthen the economy.

According to him, businesses are collapsing due to the excessive taxes imposed on Ghanaians by the government.

He has, therefore, urged the Finance Minister to reduce taxes in the 2019 budget which will be read on Thursday, 15 November.

Mr Amoah told Kwabena Prah Jnr, host of Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM that: “The taxes are killing businesses, monies that would have been used in employing Ghanaians are being used to pay taxes and, so, how can we deal with the unemployment situation in the country?”

“The Finance Minister must reduce the taxes in the budget,” he added.

The presentation is expected to be followed by a post-budget workshop and the consideration of the sectoral budget estimates by the various committees of parliament.

Ahead of the presentation, Mr Ofori-Atta had said that the Akufo-Addo-led government has attained key milestones in the economy within its 22 months in office, despite the global economic downturn.

Ghana, he said, has been able to achieve a credit upgrade from B- to B status with a stable outlook for the first time in almost a decade, as a result of the government’s prudent monetary and fiscal policies.

Mr Ofori-Atta said that for the first time in almost a decade, the debt dynamics have declined with surplus primary balance while the country has successfully issued bonds on international markets during a global economic down-swing.