“Already, we have sent out some Request for Proposal (RFPs) and we have gotten a response to those from three international banks, and we will be negotiating the terms in the coming weeks or so,” the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, said at a press briefing in Accra to announce fiscal measures to stabilise the economy.

He said the ministry would work with the Bank of Ghana to review the foreign exchange retention policy to ensure multinational companies in the extractive sectors retain foreign exchange earnings from the sale of resources in the country.

Within the medium-term, he said, the government was working to “wean-off” public tertiary institutions from government payroll and provide them with a fixed amount “block grant” instead.

“We will pursue reforms to address structural challenges in public financial management, including procurement and commitment control, payroll management and human resource management,” he added.

As part of measures to shore up revenue, Mr Ofori-Atta said that government would begin the implementation and collection of the revised property rate by end of April 2022, while it would implement the E-VAT/E-Commerce/E-Gaming initiatives by end of April 2022.

“Government intends to roll out the simplified tax filing mobile application for all eligible taxpayers by July 2022 and impress upon Parliament to fast track the passage of the E-Levy Bill, Tax Exemptions Bill, and Fees and Charges Bill.”

He emphasised that priority would be given to the Revenue Assurance, Compliance and Enforcement (RACE) Programme to plug revenue leakages, especially at the ports and the infamous fuel bunkering and small-scale mining exporters cabal.

He added, “The government will partner the private sector to introduce digital systems to monitor quarrying, sand winning and salt winning to get more revenues from our natural resources”.