Dean of the University of Cape Coast Business School has said Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will not be able to abolish taxes on electronic financial transactions, popularly known as E-levy, if elected President of Ghana.
Professor John Gatsi explained that, the E-levy was a measure as part of International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionalities thus if would be difficult to scrap it.
The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) during a lecture on his vision for Ghana on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, promised to abolish E-levy and four other levies in order to encourage people to pay using electronic channels.
Professor Gatsi criticized the suggestion as a political ploy to make Dr. Bawumia a more appealing candidate to voters in the 2024 elections.
“I believe that all these discussions are going to be centered on 2025, and it is just a political strategy to make Bawumia look good for the election because you have already created a revenue stream for this government, and the IMF program will not end in 2025. So, to say, you need the same level of revenue to sustain the program. I don’t understand how you will be able to take one revenue source from the kitty and remain sustainable in the eyes of the IMF.”
“What Bawumia should be saying is that he will propose taxes A or B to replace the e-levy. If that is not what he is saying, then it is not something he can do, especially under the IMF programme.”
He stated that, if elected President, the NPP’s flagbearer would be unable to accomplish this.