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The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has pledged to lower the mining export tax to 1% in the event that he is elected in the next general elections in 2024.
Dr. Bawumia presented this idea as a calculated strategy to counter gold smuggling, which he described as a major problem impacting the nation’s mining industry, during a campaign event on August 8, 2024.
The goal of the export tax cut, according to Dr. Bawumia, is to make it less profitable for people to smuggle gold out of Ghana.
He thinks the proposal, which would reduce the tax from its present percent, will encourage lawful and transparent transactions and enhance the amount of gold produced that can be processed domestically.
The NPP flagbearer further emphasized how his suggested “gold for oil” and “gold for reserves” initiatives would be supported by this tax reductions.
These programs seek to increase the nation’s foreign reserves and stabilize the value of the currency through the export of gold.
Dr. Bawumia thinks that these initiatives are essential to attaining economic stability and strengthening Ghana’s financial stability.
Dr. Bawumia pointed out that there has already been a notable decline in gold smuggling as a result of the gold export fee being lowered from 3% to 1.5% in 2021.
He ascribed this accomplishment to the more advantageous tax climate, which prompted miners to follow lawful export procedures and helped create a more regulated and open gold market.
“A few years ago, I pushed for the reduction of the gold export levy (withholding tax) from 3% to 1.5%. The result of this is that after a sharp decline in 2021, the gold export volumes have been steadily recovering, with 2024 showing promising signs. In the first half of 2024, the small-scale mining sector alone produced a total export volume of 821.97 troy ounces.”
“This is more than double that of Jan-Jun 2023 (404.06 troy ounces) and 2022 (262.05 troy ounces). Also, in value terms, 2024 recorded $1.77 billion higher than 2023 and 2022 just from the small-scale sector.”
“Given our strategic intention to realize higher production volumes to refine locally and support the gold for oil and gold for reserves programmes for a stable currency, I will further reduce the withholding tax from 1.5% to 1%, in the next government under my presidency.”
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
