Dr Joseph Obeng, President of GUTA, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, commended government for stabilising the economy and emphasised the need to sustain those gains to promote long-term business confidence and growth.

“We welcome the government’s efforts to stabilise the economy – inflation is down, interest rates are falling, and the currency has become relatively stable, but the next step is discipline.
“Every measure that has enabled these gains must be sustained so that businesses can thrive. We’ve seen that discipline works. Now, government must prove that it can sustain it even without IMF oversight,” he said.

Dr Obeng attributed recent fiscal and monetary discipline to the implementation of the US$3 billion IMF loan-supported programme and cautioned against a return to uncontrolled spending.

“The discipline the IMF brought into our system should not disappear after they leave. We must continue operating within budget and use revenue prudently. We need to keep the momentum going and ensure that our economic progress benefits all Ghanaians,” he said.

On taxation, Dr Obeng urged the government to reform and simplify the Value Added Tax (VAT) system, describing it as essential for supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

“VAT needs to be well-structured, affordable, and simple to encourage compliance. A complicated tax system discourages honesty and stifles small businesses,” he said, while commending the introduction of the modified tax system.

“We should be able to clearly identify who falls under the modified tax system and who doesn’t, so that no business feels victimised or disadvantaged,” he added.

Dr Obeng said the private sector does not expect new taxes in the 2026 budget, but rather a realignment of existing ones to make them more user-friendly and conducive to production.
He also identified forex repatriation as a major challenge and urged the government to take steps to reduce the volume of funds transferred abroad by foreign businesses.

“We are not against foreign investors, but laws must be enforced to ensure fair competition, particularly large Asian-owned retail chains, in Ghana’s domestic market. Ghanaian businesses need support to compete and grow,” he stated.