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Intercity STC Managing Director, Nana Akomea, has waded into discussions surrounding the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) and calls on government to seek financial help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).<\/p>\n
The E-Levy which began few months ago, is aimed at generating revenue via electronic money transfers.
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Gabby Otchere-Darko, a member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and cousin to President Nana Akufo-Addo, has stoked discussions\u00a0regarding the E-Levy either serving its purpose or not with his recent tweets about the economy.<\/p>\n
Mr. Otchere-Darko’s tweets also seem to suggest to the\u00a0government to reconsider her decision not to resort to the IMF.<\/p>\n
IMF And Matters Arising<\/strong><\/p>\n In a tweet on Monday, Mr. Otchere-Darko asked the Akufo-Addo\/Bawumia government to “pretty quickly” to “inject confidence in our capacity to ride this heavy storm”.<\/em><\/p>\n Gabby raising issues with the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy)\u00a0further\u00a0tweeted; “After 5 months of stalemate and bashing, the e-levy, after implementation, is delivering only 10% of estimated revenues; our revenues remain very low as compared to the rest of the world; debt levels dangerously high, cedi like most currencies, struggling against the dollar.”<\/em><\/p>\n On his position on the IMF, he said; \u201cAm I against an IMF programme in principle? No. I am not for an IMF programme that throws peanuts at us but imposes conditions that will end up hurting the poor, jobs and businesses more.”<\/em><\/p>\n He argued that \u201cCovid-19 and War in Ukraine are not of Africa\u2019s doing, but more to our doom. A programme that pretends it is all our doing is doomed to fail\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n “Ghana is a member of the IMF. The world is in serious crisis. Ours is not helped by our high debt and low-income levels. With the economy still growing, but investor confidence low, govt being compelled to cut down capital expenditures will eventually lead to job losses unless…”<\/em> he added.<\/p>\n Too Early To Make Judgement<\/strong><\/p>\n To Nana Akomea, it is too early for any person to make a case about the E-Levy.<\/p>\n He explained that the E-Levy is nascent initiative and needs time for the government to reap the full benefits.<\/p>\n Being against the call on\u00a0government to go to the IMF, Nana Akomea argued that the E-Levy will accrue much money than the IMF will give the country.<\/p>\n