The Ghana Publishers Association (GPA) has announced a 40 per cent increment in all books effective in June 2024.
The Association’s President, Asare Konadu Yamoah, at a press conference on Tuesday said the increase is due to the imposition of Value Added Tax (VAT) on imported books as well as other government policies which are negatively affecting the businesses of its members.
He, therefore, urged the Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Revenue Authority to engage the association as they have some proposals for consideration.
“We have innovative and progressive measures that will improve the business environment in the industry and potentially make Ghana the printing hub of West Africa. If we are all thinking about Ghana, then dialogue and consultations would have to be the anchor of the government’s relationship with businesses.
“Until such conversation is initiated, we have no options but to increase the prices of books. Starting from June, prices will go up between 30 to 40 %. This decision was not easy to make considering the difficult challenges businesses and the citizens are faced with,” he said.
He further appealed, “We therefore seek the understanding of Ghanaians as we have to protect our businesses from collapse.”
Mr Yamoah also spoke about their inability to trust the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA) as an independent transparent regulator.
He therefore demanded that the book assessment and approval role granted NaCCA be withdrawn.
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Story by: Osei Akoto(Teacher Kojo) #Ahotoronline.com
