A policy think tank, Danquah Institute (DI) has advised the government to suspend the implementation of the proposed Electronic Transaction Levy (E-levy), which is expected to take effect in January 2022.
The think tank believes there was a need for government to deepen stakeholder conversations to generate wider public acceptance of the policy.
It, however, described the levy as laudable but insisted that there must broad consultation on the matter.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, November 25, 2021, Dr. Antoinette Tsiboe-Darko the Director of the Institute said: “We recommend that the government hold broad-based consultations with the myriad of stakeholders to make the levy acceptable to the populace.”
She explained that when similar policies were piloted in other African countries, the outcomes were rather devastating; leading to a decline in the patronage of mobile money transactions.
She used Tanzania as an example to support his argument saying the policy led to a massive decline in revenue generation.
This she added negatively affected the economy.
According to her, the policy dealt a big blow to Kenya when they also introduced it.
Dr. Tsiboe-Darko stressed that it would be prudent for the government to suspend the 1.75% E-levy until extensive consultations with relevant stakeholders have been done.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
