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Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has announced that government with effective from tomorrow Thursday, April 4, 2019 will reduce all import duties by 50%.

The Vice-President also disclosed that import duty on cars have also been cut by 30%.

He explained that the move is to let Ghanaians appreciate the fact that the Akufo-Addo administration is a listening government that always have the interest of Ghanaians at heart.

Whiles admitting that import charges are “higher in Ghana than any Africa country”, a phenomenon he said was not appropriate, the Vice-President, who is the head of the Economic Management Team was emphatic that “it should be a flat rate across.”

“Why should the cost of scanning a container, vehicle examination fees, and network charge is a percentage of the value of the goods in the container. Why should the cost of processing a container, covering import be a percentage of the cost of the value of the goods?” he questioned.

Dr Bawumia said these reforms are part of measures to deal with smuggling at the various entry points into the country as well as assisting businesses in Ghana.

“To reduce the incidence of smuggling and enhance revenue, the benchmark delivery value of imports will be reduced by 50 per cent,” Dr Bawumia said at a Town Hall meeting in Accra on Wednesday, 3 April 2019, to wild cheers from the gathering.