Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. John Kuma
Government announces imposition of e-levy in 2022 budget
Finance minister submits budget modifications to parliament
E-levy to be used to cater for government expenditure
Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. John Kumah, has reiterated the importance of the 1.75% e-levy for the country. According to him, parts of the revenue to be generated from the levy will be channelled towards improving Ghana’s road infrastructure.
John Kumah said the “e-levy will be the next biggest revenue space as far as Ghana is concerned and it will help government to inject about 10billion in its entrepreneurial initiative which is the YouStart programme for young people to create jobs etc. We also want to do aggressive road construction so if you check, we have removed the road tolls, the entire road tolls are giving Ghana 78million cedis and in fact look at the nuisance, the traffic, the pollution and the congestion just to go and pay 1cedi and we have removed that and we are introducing the E-levy so that we will be able to do more road construction and pay contractors on time”.
The Finance minister has submitted modifications of the 2022 budget to the speaker of parliament.
According to the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, through the e-Levy and other revenue/financing sources, government will “establish the unprecedented GHS10 billion YouStart programme, our vehicle to remove the fundamental impediment to the growth of enterprises in Ghana – ‘Access to Credit’. We will also address the provision of the requisite skills for our young people to confidently start, manage and expand their own businesses while expanding the private sector to create more jobs, significantly overhaul the digital infrastructure on which the transactions occur. This is to increase the assurance and protection as well as security within this cyberspace aggressively to expand the digitalization agenda to bring more convenience to Ghanaians.”
He reiterated government’s efforts to improve the delivery of health by digitising records, supporting platforms for e-pharmacy, and improving birth certificate issuance to newborns will be sustained with funding from the levy.
He concluded, “to expand road infrastructure, we are currently working with the Ministry of Roads and Highways to finalise all the roads to be supported by the E-Levy. We expect to publish this list by the end of this Year.”
Meanwhile, the minority in parliament says it is still not in support of the e-levy.