Economist wants govt to focus on e-commerce, others to raise more revenue
An Associate Professor of the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana (UG), Prof. Godfred Charles Ackah, has said the proposed electronic transaction (E-Levy) is not the solution to the country’s recurring debt crisis.
Instead, he said the government should deploy sustainable measures such as collecting taxes from e-commerce transactions and taxing the rich to raise more revenues for the economy.
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“Although the implementation of the 2022 budget requires innovative ways of raising extra resources for the development agenda, the proposed E-Levy is not the only solution to the recurring debt crisis situation,” he said.
At a public forum last Thursday, February 10, in Accra, he said many online businesses had made a lot of profit since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the trend was still continuing.
As a result, there is the need for the government to target such businesses to raise more revenue.
“What the government needs to do is to slow down on borrowing and raise more money locally to ensure liquidity in the system. We agree with them to raise more revenue and liquidity but E-Levy is not the salvation.
“More revenue could be generated from property tax, taxing the rich some more and e-commerce than the E-Levy will bring,” Prof. Ackah noted.
Forum
The forum was organised by the Economic Governance Platform (EGP) in collaboration with Advocates for Christ Ghana on the theme, “E-Levy, IMF or What? Sustainable Solutions to Ghana’s debt Crisis”.
It brought together stakeholders to discuss findings from civil society organisations (CSOs) and academia, as well as consider the strategies that the government and its development partners are considering to manage the situation.
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Speakers at the forum included the Executive Director of Penplusbytes, Mrs Juliet Amoah, the Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr John Kumah; a Professor of Finance, Prof. Godfred Alufar Bokpin; Prof. Ackah; the Resident Representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Ghana, Dr Albert Touna Mama, and an Economics Researcher, Dr John Kwakye.
A Deputy Finance Minister, Dr John Kumah explained that the E-Levy was needed to help government continue with development projects, rather than going to the IMF to borrow which will be another cost to the tax payer.
“The E-Levy is not going to kill MoMo transactions in our country but rather increase it.We are to going to invest in the digital space and it is not going to be a reverse to our digital space and digitalisation agenda. Let us support the E-Levy and build our country our own strength.
Advice
Dr Mama advised the government to develop a clear and concise set of policies to guide the economy out of the current challenges.
He said while Ghana had buoyant growth prospects post-CoVid-19 pandemic, its finances were in a precarious situation, which required tough decisions, discipline, hard work and commitment to address.
He said a rescue package must be heavy on expenditure cuts that did not jeopardise social spending, along with increased revenue generation.
For his part, a Professor of Finance, Prof. Godfred Alufar Bopkin advised government to reduce its executive size and block the financial loopholes in the tax system to raise the necessary revenue rather than going ahead with the E–Levy.“We are losing so much as a country through tax loopholes and exemptions.
“What I will advise the government is to look out for ways to seal the leakages and get all those informal sector into the tax net” he stated.