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Bono East Regional Min. begins “Radio tour” to explain economic policies

The Bono East Regional Minister, Mr Adu Gyan, on Monday began using the local radio stations to explain the 2022 budget and economic policies of the government to the citizenry in the region.

The regional minister said the “Radio tour” would help propagate the numerous projects, programmes, initiatives, social and economic interventions in the ‘Agyenkwa’ budget in the local language, for an improved appreciation and decision making.

Launching the exercise on Akyea Radio Station at Nkoranza, Mr Gyan implored residents to bear with the government to generate enough revenue by accepting the levy being put on Mobile Money transaction.

He noted that the funds accrued from the Electronic Levy (E-Levy) would be used to support education, health infrastructure, fix deplorable roads, create employment for the youth and general economic activities to ensure accelerated development of the region.

“Ghana is not the only country to implement this E-levy for fund raising. Other countries in Africa have also done same and it is helping them a lot. Some countries even have higher percentage than ours,” Mr Gyan indicated.

The regional minister noted that the numerous benefits the levies provided to the country must encourage Ghanaians to pay them in good faith after parliamentary approval, saying that the budget allowed the private sector to be the engine of growth.

Mr Gyan added that the YouStart policy in the budget was to give start-ups packages, financial support to the people, especially the youth to start their own businesses, thereby reducing unemployment adding that our young persons would be givers of jobs and not seekers.

He said graduates, artisans and beneficiaries of the Nation Builders Corps (NaBCo), and the National Entrepreneurial and Innovative Programme (NEIP) would directly benefit from the policy, creating a lot of business owners and employers.

The regional minister reiterated the government’s commitment to cushion the local textiles industry by providing two years tax ‘holiday’ for producers of wax print to increase production, to create more employment within the value chain.

“The government had scrapped about nine major taxes by the previous administration since assuming office. This shows how this government thinks about the plight of residents,” he added.

Mr Gyan entreated Ghanaians, especially residents of the Bono East Region to rally behind the government, to ensure infrastructural development, saying that “together we can be a prosperous country.”

A caller, George Kofi from Nkoranza Kasajan, during the phone-in segment of the show, asked if the E- levy was in force after the budget presentation. Mr Gyan in response said it would take effect after receiving parliamentary approval.

FROM EMMANUEL ADU GYAMFI, NKORANZA

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