Ghana Minister of Finance announces tobacco excise increase
19 November 2014 In his speech concerning the budget and economic policy of the Government of Ghana, the Minister of Finance, Seth E Terkper, indicated that Ghana will move towards increasing the excise duty rate of tobacco products. This increase will improve compliance by Ghana with Article 6 of the Convention and will be in line with the guidelines for implementation of Article 6, adopted at the sixth session of the COP in October 2014.
The planned increase in tobacco excise also addresses the recommendation of the report of the joint needs assessment conducted with the assistance of the Convention Secretariat (see report attached).
In his speech, the Minister of Finance emphasized that “Ghanas excise tax as a percentage of cigarette prices is one of the lowest in the region. It has been estimated that the excise tax as a percentage of retail price is 14% while the average for Africa is 33%. It has also been established that in order to reduce the consumption of tobacco and its related health hazards, excise tax should be 70% of the retail price. In pursuance of these goals the excise duty rate will be increased from 150% to 175%.”