The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has justified the proposed 1.75% E-Levy introduced in the 2022 budget statement.
The Minister maintained that the levy which has become a bone of contention between the Minority and Majority in parliament, would create over 11 million people are employed.
He was speaking at a Springboard Youth Dialogue at the University of Cape Coast under the theme: “Building a Sustainable Entrepreneurial Nation; Opportunities for Ghana’s Youth”.
According to him, 58 percent of the country’s population are between 15 and 59 years, which is about 18million people.
“Of this number, 2.4million are in formal employment whilst the remaining 15 million are split between informal and underemployment”, stressing that 11 million people are with no clear path when it comes to employment opportunities.
He said “for us as a government, our task is to ensure we extend opportunities to the youth. The consequences of having eleven million people with no clear path, undoubtedly, our recovery efforts hinges on tailored support to provide skills and funding to our young people to pursue their ambition to free them”.
“How do we as a nation move into an entrepreneurial stage to have an opportunity to contribute to national development? How do we reduce our debt and create employment? How do we take care of our infrastructure and roads so that we open up the country and build good Internet systems to create opportunities for all? Why are we being resistant to the future? We have nothing to fear. Have we as a nation understood the times that we are in and are we ready to sacrifice to move to a whole different level”?
“When somebody tells you we shouldn’t go there, tell them, give me an alternative for this 11 million people who are at home and not working”.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
