Take a critical look at E-levy before implementation - Economist tells government

Economist calls for exemptions to be made to e-levy

Some Ghanaians disagree with government on imposition of the tax

They aver that private sector contribution to job creation is important

Senior lecturer at the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana, Dr. Priscilla Twumasi Baffour wants government to make some adjustments to the e-levy before it is finally implemented next year.

The 1.75% e-levy announced by the Finance Minister during the presentation of the 2022 budget have received some backlash from stakeholders and a from citizens.

Speaking at KPMG’s post 2022 budget forum, Dr. Twumasi Baffour decried the imposition of the E-levy, saying any attempt to roll back financial inclusion is a step that will cost the country’s economy.

“My concern is that any attempt that tends to roll back the gains we have made in terms of financial inclusion where the ordinary person is using a digital platform so that we can track where money goes is critical and any initiative that tends to roll that back needs to be taken a critical look at.”

She therefore called for a lot of exemptions to be made during parliament’s deliberations before it is approved and implemented.

The economist however lauded government’s efforts to return the country to pre-COVID levels and the initiatives being put in place to create jobs for the youth through the YouStart Initiative.

“When it comes to job creation, we know the private sector has to be the engine that drives this growth, so for us in academia, when it comes to youth unemployment, we are quite skeptical about government’s direct intervention in providing jobs.

We need to equip them to work through the private sector work through the industrial base to create the needed jobs. With that, I am excited about the YouStart initiative through the GhanaCares Obaatanpa programme.”

Senior Partner, KPMG, Anthony Sarpong said government will be encouraged to ruthlessly implement the stated policies to consolidate the gains achieved on the path to economic recovery.