President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has shot down suggestions for the government to resort to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive Ghana’s ailing economy.
The President indicated that Ghana cannot constantly rely on foreign grants to salvage the economy.
“It will not be possible for Ghana to be forever dependent on foreign grants and foreign loans to keep our economy going. We have to find the money for our economic development and that is why it has become necessary for us to introduce these measures like this famous [electronic transaction] tax that has caused so many disputations,” he said during a meeting with some chiefs from the Dzodze Traditional Area in the Volta Region.
The President’s comments come in the wake of suggestions for Ghana to return to the IMF for financial assistance.
The government’s plan to raise revenue through the Electronic Transaction Levy has been widely criticised by some financial analysts and even some members of the NPP, who have argued that the expected revenue from the controversial tax will not be enough.
A former New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for New Juaben South, and a one-time Chair of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah has thus urged the government to reconsider its decision not to go back to the IMF in the face of the country’s dwindling revenues.
He maintained that the government’s insistence on passing the Electronic-Transaction Levy to shore up its revenue target is not right given the existential economic challenges.
However, the President, in response to these suggestions, emphasized the importance of the e-levy, saying “it is necessary for us to do so because that is the only way these matters can be addressed.”
“I am determined to persevere to make sure we find the means to address the issues that you have got. The government does not have money on its own. It has money from the taxes from the people. That is the only way it raises money to carry out its work,” President Akufo-Addo added.
