Gold Fields, Kosmos Join Growing List of Companies GRA Says Owe Ghana Millions In Back-Taxes

• Gold Fields, Kosmos, Tullow and MTN Ghana have made an interesting list of big firms the GRA says owe the state millions in taxes
• But all the firms have refuted the claim, with Kosmos saying it will fight it when the time is right
• GRA is helping Ghana to raise enough money to pay piled-up debts that have plunged the country into a fiscal and economic crisis

The Ghana Revenue Authority's list of big companies it says owe the state millions in back taxes is growing with Gold Field, Kosmos, Tullow and MTN Ghana named on it.

Although the GRA has not been very forthcoming with clarity on how the back taxes incur, all the big firms dispute the claim that they owe the cash-strapped Ghana government.

A spokesperson for Gold Fields told Bloomberg that Ghana is clearly facing challenges.

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Sven Lunsche told the news agency that “we are hopeful that the government will not resort to unreasonable fiscal measures that will further imperil the challenges facing the corporate sector.”

Gold Fields is trying to get the GRA to try and resolve the matter.

Meanwhile, MTN Ghana has until Friday, February 3, 2023, to reach an agreement with the GRA to pay $776 million.

Kosmos Energy says GRA's claim that it underpaid certain taxes and other contractual fiscal obligations is unfounded.

The US firm says it will “vigorously dispute” the claim by the state's tax authority when the time comes.

Debt-distressed Ghana runs to the IMF for a $3bn loan

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh has reported in a separate story that Ghana's public debt has reached GH¢575.7 billion as of November 2022, representing 93.5% of GDP.

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The new public debt figures published by the Bank of Ghana on Monday, January 30, 2023, mean that every Ghanaian citizen owes GH¢17,445.

The public debt figures also show that external debts have reached GH¢382.7 billion, representing 62.1% of GDP.

Ghana has reached a staff-level agreement for a $3 billion bailout loan to shore up the balance of trade and inject confidence in the economy.

Cedi is among the top 10 worst-performing currencies

Also, professor Steve Hanke in January released his 'currency watchlist' that shows that the Ghana cedi is among the top 10 worst performers against the dollar.

The Hanke's Currency Watchlist shows the cedi is the 8th worst-performing currency against the US dollar as of January 18, 2023.

The unfavourable analysis suggests that inflation and the general standard of living will get higher in the coming days as a depreciation of the cedi usually causes these.

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Latest public debt figures show every Ghanaian citizen now owes GH¢17,445

Source: YEN.com.gh