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The Ghana Revenue Authority has announced its decision to commence the operationalization of the E-levy from May 1 in a modified-phased approach. This follows the results of an assessment carried out by the GRA to test the general readiness of some charging entities to integrate with the E-Levy management system. The new development is a snag in the Authority’s plan to fully implement the E-levy by May 1.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is warning of impending food security issues for Ghana and other African countries due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The Fund said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed food and energy-related commodities to record levels on the global market. The captured concern is in the IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook Report released on Thursday. The Fund was worried that development could hurt economies in the region already struggling.

Former Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Amos Ofori Quaah wants Ghana to return to the Oil Production Sharing Agreement to accrue more revenue from the hydrocarbon resources. According to him, the country’s current contractual arrangement for petroleum exploration is a bane to the development of the sector and the economy at large.

Madam Elsie Addo Awadzi, the Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BOG) says that a boost in Africa's long-term competitiveness on the global market will depend on financing for robust macro-economic recovery and medium to long term investment. However, financing, she said, had remained a big challenge as the estimated financing gap for Africa was about $285 billion in additional funding that would be required from 2021 to 2025 to effectively respond to the effect of the pandemic.

Bringing you updates from the world of business

A research by the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) has shown that several cocoa farms in the Western, Ashanti and Eastern regions have been lost to illegal mining activities. The research found that out of the over 20,000-acre cocoa farms in the selected regions, more than 19,000 acres have been devastated by galamsey.

Ghana tax revenue to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio is expected to increase in 2022 to 16.5%, from 14.7% in 2021, the International Monetary Fund’s April 2022 Fiscal Monitor has revealed. This will be a vast improvement compared to the rates registered during the last 10 years. In 2023 and 2024, the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio will however fall to 16% and 16.2% respectively.

Ghana’s economy expanded by 5.4% in 2021, far higher than the 0.4% recorded in the year 2020, a period that COVID-19 pandemic had severely hit the global economy. Without oil, the economy recorded a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 6.9%

The World Bank has affirmed its forecast of 5.5% expansion of the Ghanaian economy in 2022, higher than Sub Saharan Africa average of 3.6%.

According to its latest Africa Pulse Report, ahead of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Spring Meetings, the Bretton Wood institution however expressed worry about the country’s debt sustainability problems, which it described could erode gains going forward.