Ken Ofori-Atta
FINANCE MINISTER Ken Ofori-Atta has stated that Government will channel proceeds that will accrue from the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) into developing new infrastructure, employing more youth, creating wealth and making Ghana prosperous.
He has, therefore, called on Ghanaians to endorse the E-Levy to help reduce the country’s public debt, budget deficits.
The Finance Minister was speaking Wednesday at a town hall meeting on the E-Levy at the Sekondi Youth Centre in the Western Region.
The meeting, which was the second in the series, was aimed at explaining the importance of the E-Levy to the people, as well as taking feedback and inputs from relevant stakeholders.
The levy, which will be deliberated on in Parliament was initially 1.75 percent, but has been reduced to 1.5 percent.
The Minister explained that E-Levy transfers covers mobile money transfers between accounts on the same electronic money issuer and transfers from mobile money accounts to bank accounts, among others.
He explained that it will not affect the electronic clearing of cheques, cumulative transfers of GH¢100 per day made by the same person and transferred between accounts owned by the same person, among others.
“Let your MPs know that we are all part of this burden-sharing, to be able to raise the resources we need for development,” he told the gathering.
He mentioned for instance that, in the Western Region, the government needed more revenue to reconstruct the Sekondi market, Effia Nkwanta Regional hospital, and more roads.
“So please, let us understand and accept the E-Levy to help build a stronger nation, create more jobs and employ people.”
He stressed that the levy will make all Ghanaians responsible for protecting the public purse because, as they pay the tax, they will have the moral right to monitor what it is used for.
Regional Minister
The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, said in order to achieve the President’s Ghana Beyond Aid policy, there is the need to generate more revenue internally.
He said “If we want to develop the country with our own resources, then this is the time for this special levy to be accepted to help build our country.”
He continued that the NPP administration is bent on utilising the county’s revenue judiciously and cited the Free Senior High School policy and other social interventions aimed at improving the people’s living standards as examples.
Sekondi MP
The Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Andrew Agyapa Mercer, also explained that Government’s expenditure, since the COVID-19 hit Ghana, has increased.
Also, he said the government has spent a lot to resolve the country’s banking crisis, hence the need for new revenue making measures.
He said if Ghana should go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for support, that will attract stringent terms and therefore it is prudent to generate revenue internally.
Open Forum
The participants, during the open forum, called for a further reduction of the levy, the intensification of education on the transaction and Government’s assurance of transparency in its use.
FROM Emmanuel Opoku, Sekondi