Business News of Saturday, 4 December 2021
Source: www.ghanaweb.live
2021-12-04Scrap the proposed E-levy – Kwame Pianim tells Finance Ministry
Renowed Economist, Kwame Pianim
Kwame Pianim has asked the Finance Ministry to scrap the E-levy
He said the E-levy is anti-technology progress
He said, toll booths should be restored
Kwame Pianim, an NPP stalwart, has asked the Finance Ministry to do away with the proposed implementation of the electronic transactions tax, commonly called e-levy, which seeks to impose a 1.75 per cent
Read full articletax on all electronic transactions exceeding GH¢100 in a day.
According to him, the e-levy “is anti-technology progress and may undermine the significant progress being achieved in financial inclusion for the unbanked.”
Pianim in a graphiconline reportage counsels the Ministry to arrange with the Bank of Ghana to collect the interest on MoMo wallets that do not benefit the average MoMo user if the government of Ghana needs money.
He said, the government should “take a step back from the brink, listen creatively to the pain of our people and focus on providing a caring administration and preserving national cohesion and keeping the economy on an even keel in these stormy weathers!”
Kwame Pianim in response to some questions surrounding the 2022 Budget recalls the words of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that the government’s priority in the pandemic is to keep Ghanaians alive by growing the economy instead of trying the impossible of bringing back the dead to life.
He said, Ministry of Finance should take advantage of the ongoing budget process crisis for more reflection and consultations.
He noted that “This is not the time for jerky manoeuvres”.
The Economist further advised the Finance Ministry not to seek to stress further, a people struggling to survive; rather it should focus on “expenditure cuts and husbanding our scarce resources.”
“Kindly restore the toll booths to protect the fresh foodstuff markets that have developed around them," Kwame Pianim said, adding, "if not restored quickly we may do damage to the rural economy and especially the women traders there.”
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