Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the finance minister-designate, has stated Finance ministers have often not paid enough attention to revenue mobilization.
Ato Forson has pledged to lead the charge to prioritize efficiency and financial discipline in the use of state resources.
The minister-designate appeared at Parliament’s Appointments Committee today January 13, 2025, for vetting as he prepares to assume his role as Finance Minister.
According to Ato Forson, the key to boosting government revenue lies in improving tax compliance rather than new taxes or increasing existing ones.
Appearing before the Parliament’s Appointments Committee Dr. Ato Forson stated, “I worked under Honorable Seth Tekper for four years. An astute Tax practitioner. I learned under him; he used to meet the authorities once every fortnight, and as we saw our revenues improve”.
“What I can assure you is that learning from the Honorable Seth and seeing the way our revenue increased in the shortest possible time, I will go by the same approach. Aside from that, I will dedicate a considerable amount of time towards revenue mobilization”, he added.
The minister-designate added, “Ministers of Finance often have not paid enough attention to revenue mobilization. I think we should not allow GRA alone to mobilize the revenue, the Ministers of Finance should have a role to play, and I will play such a role. I will dedicate a considerable amount of my attention towards revenue mobilization to help improve revenue,”
Ato Forson also disclosed that scrapping the betting tax will not affect the forward march of the economy.
