Government authorities will begin a statewide public awareness campaign on the need for the controversial e-levy to be implemented today, Thursday, January 20, 2022, according to Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta.
Officials, including himself, he claims, would personally engage individuals in the many policies and programs for which the government will spend the tax funds.
He said the government is convinced of the need for the e-levy and how it captures the principle of burden-sharing for Ghana’s development at a news conference on Wednesday, January 19, 2022.
A team consisting of myself, colleague ministers, and other key officials of the government will begin a public engagement and sensitization campaign across the country on Thursday, “he said. In the spirit of burden-sharing that must govern our development efforts as we advance Ghana Beyond Aid, “he stated.
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Mr. Ofori-Atta further stressed that some preliminary public engagements show that many people are not against the e-levy, but only want accountability on the use of the money.
He, therefore, emphasised that the government intends to “use the money to create jobs, grow our private sector to employ more of our youth, accelerate the digitalization agenda to bring more convenience to Ghanaians, enhance the security of our digital platforms, aggressively expand our road infrastructure agenda, reduce our dependence on debt and reduce the crowding out of the private sector to improve access to credit.”
He commended the telecommunication companies for announcing their resolve to reduce their 1% transaction charges on money transfers.
“True to the spirit of burden sharing, the Telcos have agreed to reduce their charges by 0.25% to reduce the overall net impact of the levy on subscribers. We want to take this opportunity to thank our friends in the Telecom Industry and we believe that by this measure, we can raise the requisite resources to bolster our fiscal position while keeping an eye on transaction costs and consumer welfare and reducing the impact on the average Ghanaian and keeping the resources required for our growth agenda.”
