General News of Saturday, 2 July 2022
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
You can never alternate E-Levy and IMF, Kwaku Kwarteng
Akufo-Addo directs Finance Minister to commence IMF engagements
IMF doesn’t ask you to relax taxes, they will say
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The Chairman of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Kweku Kwarteng has said people who do not know how the economy works or how IMF operates are those calling for the scrapping of E-Levy.
According to him, the government cannot scrap E-levy unless it agrees it is not a good tax or generating enough revenue.
Speaking on Eyewitness news on Citi TV, he explained that IMF will not ask government to relax taxes but rather find more ways of generating revenue in the country, adding that E-Levy is not a substitute for IMF.
“E-Levy was not a substitute for IMF. IMF don’t ask you to relax taxes, they will say E-Levy is not enough. They usually ask you to cut expenditures and increase revenue mobilization. People who don’t know how the economy works or how IMF operates are those calling for scrapping. The IMF will ask for a programme between tax and revenue. Let’s wait for the discussions.
“You can never alternate E-Levy and IMF, that is what a lot of people say, but it doesn’t make sense. Unless we can show big expenditure, cuts, and increase revenue, let’s not contemplate scrapping E-Levy unless we agree it is not a good tax or we are not getting enough.” He said.