The Ghana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) has lamented on the overall suffering Ghanaians are going through on daily basis.

The union encouraged the government to find innovative solutions to curb the country’s soaring debt levels while also alleviating existing hardships in the economy.

“Ghanaians are struggling. Government must come to their aid.”
Dr Anthony Baah

The GTUC raised concerns in its analysis of the government’s 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policies about the declining living standards caused by high living costs, poor pay, and high unemployment.

According to the union, this is the result of diminishing revenues falling short of expenditures, resulting in rising deficits and debt levels.

The GTUC announced as part of its pre-budget proposals “there is an urgent need to plug the loopholes in the tax system. We supported the establishment of the Revenue Assurance, Compliance and Enforcement (RACE). We asked government to pass the tax exemption bill and move further to streamline the exemptions regime. We asked government to pay more attention to property taxation and work with the District/Municipal/Metropolitan Assemblies to collect property taxes.”

However, after the budget was presented, the Union came out and complained that “we see no response on the suggestion to increase the tax rates on tobacco, alcohol, and property and drinks with high sugar content.”

Despite this, the Union complimented the government for a number of steps planned for 2022, including a step-up in Revenue Assurance and Compliance Enforcement (RACE), a change to the Tax Exemptions Bill that would be passed and implemented in 2022, and a personnel rationalization exercise.

On review of the proposed E-levy

The union asked the government for a review of the 1.75 percent Electronic Transaction Levy to evaluate if it fits the criteria for a good tax. Moreover, it wants to know how the elimination of road tolls will affect government revenue.

In terms of employment, GTUC recommended the government to assess the numerous public sector employment programs and look into the possibilities of combining them.

“We expected the 2022 Budget to address the problems that inhibit the expansion of the private sector in the most aggressive way. We asked the government and the relevant public institutions to secure markets for domestic firms locally and externally. We urged government to invest in employment data to allow for assessment of the impact of government policies on employment.”
Dr Anthony Baah

The GTUC has advocated for a “Productivity Week” every year, which would bring together all social stakeholders to address productivity challenges.

The Union raised concern, however, that no mention was made of a review of the current public employment program as well as employment data.

Moreover, in terms of pensions, the GTUC further urged the government to fulfill its promise to top-up the lump-sum for those who retired in 2020 and those who will retire in 2021, as well as propose an amendment to Act 766 delaying the total implementation of pension reforms (including lump-sum benefits) until 2031, among other things