2015 budget likely to see cuts in expenditure

Government is likely to implement some serious cuts in its expenditure and raise more taxes in the 2015 budget, Chairman of Parliament's Finance Committee James Avedzi hints.

Finance Minister Seth Terkper is set to present next year's budget to parliament tomorrow, and Mr. Avedzi told Joy Business these measures are necessary to put the economy on a strong  footing come next  year.

“Wage bill is a killer expenditure item so there must be a cut in that, it will be in a form of convincing workers on government payroll so that the level of expectation in terms of salary increase would not be so much.”

He also urged that government deals with ghost names, as well as assess the number on its payroll if they are really needy so that a bold decision can be taken to pay some people off.

Mr. Advedzi also wants expansion of the tax net to ensure that “revenue come from all sources; all income earners must be made to pay taxes”.

“I think Ghanaians should be ready to embrace it,” he said.

According to the Ministry of Finance's guidelines for the preparation of next year's budget, government is planning to raise about 43 billion Ghana cedis in revenue next year.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry says it expects government to put in place structures aimed at reducing the cost of doing business next year.