Renowned economist Professor John Gatsi has observed that if Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the flagbearer and leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), is elected president in December 2024, it will be challenging for him to abandon electronic financial transactions, or E-Levy.
In order to encourage people to use electronic channels for payment, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia promised to abolish the e-levy and four other taxes during the NPP flagbarer's vision launch on Wednesday, February 20, 2024, at the University for Professional Studies in Accra.
Professor Gatsi, dean of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) Business School, responded to the vision statement of the flagbearer's proposal by stating that "fulfilling it would be a challenge as the levy was introduced by the government to generate revenue, as part of requirements by the International Monetary Fund for the grant of an extended credit facility."
According to him, the plan is only a political ploy to position Dr. Bawumia as the front-runner in the next polls.
According to the finance professor, the NPP flagbearer is unable to accomplish that if elected president.
"I think the focus of all these talks is going to be 2025, and it's just a political ploy to help Bawumia look good for the election because you've already given this government a source of income and the IMF program isn't going to end in 2025." In other words, to keep the program running, you need the same amount of funding. How you will be able to rely on the cat as your only form of income and still be considered sustainable by the IMF is beyond me.
Instead of announcing that he will suggest taxes A or B to replace the e-levy, Bawumia needs to state this. Prof. Gatsi said, "If he is not saying that, then it is not something he can do, especially under the IMF program."
The Vice President pledged to eliminate several taxes that were previously in place, such as the electricity VAT and the emission charge, as part of his vision for the next administration in 2025.
Nonetheless, the government said on Wednesday, February 7, that the electricity tax would not be implemented as planned.
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