The Member of Parliament for Dormaa East, Paul Apraku Twum Barimah has appealed to multinational companies operating in the country to consider retaining parts of their profit in Ghana to shore up the economy and help Ghana retain more revenue in the country in a bid to reduce the pressure on the cedi.
Speaking in an interview yesterday hours after the press conference held by the Ministry of Finance and the Visiting team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), honourable Twum Barimah said most of the multinational firms operating in the country are fond of remitting all their profits from the country, a move that deprives the state of adequate funds to run the economy.
“As we try to convince government to enact a legislation that will make multinational firms retain portions of their profits in the country over a given period, we appeal to these firms to consider retaining some of their profits in the country voluntarily to help sustain the currency and the economy.
Information indicates that most multinational or foreign firms repatriate 80 per cent of their earnings or receipts out of the country; a move that negatively impacts Ghana’s socio-economic development. For instance foreign mining companies retain an average of 80 per cent of their annual earnings in line with binding agreements passed by Parliament in 2003.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and government on Tuesday reached a staff-level agreement on economic policies and reforms proposed by the latter to be supported by a new three-year arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) totalling US$3 billion.
Government’s strong reform programme aims at restoring macroeconomic stability and debt sustainability while protecting the vulnerable, preserving financial stability, and laying the foundation for strong and inclusive recovery.
To support the objective of restoring public debt sustainability, government has launched a comprehensive debt operation Hours after the announcement Ghana’s official currency began to appreciate against the United States dollar and all the major international currencies.
