Public Accounts Committee Chair and Member of Parliament for Atiwa East Abena Osei Asare has criticized the government over a two billion cedi revenue deficit recorded in the first half of the year, arguing that the shortfall highlights sluggish economic performance despite the introduction of multiple tax measures.
Delivering her official response to the 2026 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament, the lawmaker pointed out that out of the targeted one hundred and twenty-six billion cedi projected for the first six months of the annual two hundred and sixty-eight billion cedi revenue mobilization plan, total collections reached only approximately one hundred and twenty-four billion cedi.
Osei Asare stated that a major portion of the deficit stemmed from lagging Value Added Tax receipts, which registered a specific shortfall of two point three billion cedi during the period under review.
She emphasized that VAT collections directly reflect market transactions and consumer demand rather than policy statements, warning that suppressed tax receipts indicate low commercial activity and broader economic stagnation across key sectors.
The Atiwa East legislator further argued that introducing eight new tax instruments over the previous fiscal year failed to secure projected revenue targets, pointing to a five billion cedi shortfall in 2025 as evidence that tax policy adjustments cannot succeed without fundamental economic growth.
She urged the Ministry of Finance to focus on reviving commercial productivity and expediting statutory fund disbursements for ongoing development projects rather than relying on revenue targets that outpace actual economic output.
