The Vice President of Ghana, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has announced that the government will slash import duty by 50 percent, while vehicle importers would enjoy 30 percent reduction.
Dr. Bawumia said at the Economic Management Team (EMT) Town Hall Meeting held in Accra on Wednesday that the decision would be effective from Thursday, April 4, and that it would cover import duties at all of the country’s ports.
The announcement comes days after the visit to Worchester, Massachusetts by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo where he told Ghanaians that he plans to reform Ghana’s import duty regime with the intent to review the high import duties at the country’s ports.
Dr Bawumia assured Ghanaians that the government was already working on the deal and indicated that he was aware of the petitions received by the state to revise the current import duty regime.
“We have realized from the studies we have done that our ports are not competitive and the imports regime in our country is far too high,” the Vice President said.
“We are dealing with it, and very soon, the measures that government will roll out will become known to all of you. I am not talking next year, or in 6 months’ time, I am talking very, very soon.
“This means, for example, if a container was previously assessed for duty at a value of $20,000, it will now be assessed from tomorrow at a value of $10,000. We expect that the higher volumes of at least 50 percent annually and increase custom revenue,” he added.
DAP/GIK/APA