General Secretary of the Food and Beverages Association of Ghana, Samuel Ato Aggrey, has reiterated that prices of beverages, bottled water, and others will go up to reflect new taxes.
He made this known in an interview with the media while recounting the effects the three new tax bills passed by Parliament would have on the food and beverage sector.
According to him, consumers should be ready to pay more for commodities such as food juices, bottled water, soda, etc.
He added that workers risk losing their jobs since the new taxes could push private manufacturers out of business.
Mr Ato Aggrey suggested to the government that it should rather make the economic environment flexible for private manufacturers to employ more so that these individuals would in turn pay taxes to the government.
“Looking at the three Tax Bills that have been introduced, affect the cycle of production of things. In the manufacturing sector for instance, when 2.5% is applied on top of the income tax bill, it will affect the consumer price in the long run. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and even water will all be affected.
When you introduce 2.5% and the excise duty, it will directly affect the cost of the end product. So whether you are importing or producing locally, there is a cost implication that will create sort of a problem for the consumers.
So I suggest that they should come up with a concept that will make the private sector employ more people so that they can pay their taxes, and not introduce a policy that will directly affect them. When this happens, these private companies also tend to cut down costs by laying off some workers,” He stated.
