The head of the parliamentary finance committee, Kwaku Kwarteng, disputes claims that the government's expectations for the Electronic Transaction Levy (e-levy) have not been reached.
He said that it is improper to evaluate a national policy of this kind just one month after it was put into effect.
On Monday, Mr. Kwarteng remarked on Top Story that the platform needed to execute the tax was not yet available and that the Ghana Revenue Authority had not yet audited the revenue earned by the different collectors.
"You can't have a tax policy like this enacted in May and then claim here in June that it hasn't had the desired effect and that the government should have known this all along... Not at all That is the first point: handle national policy in that manner.
"I believe that it is still early; let's see how this tax situation plays out... I believe it to be wholly inappropriate and that its critique of government policy is not very responsible, " the man remarked.
He said that if it became clear that the tax would not provide the anticipated level of money, the government would make its own choice.
Mr. Kwarteng pleaded with detractors to wait before judging the fee.
"I respectfully advise everyone to remember Ghana will always exist. Watch how this policy performs first. As I have stated, the platform is not even ready to run the policy. Let's be patient and avoid making any noise, even to the educating the public about the shortcomings of this approach and urging them to reject it.
In the meanwhile, about two months after the Electronic Transactions Levy (e-levyadoption, )'s Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, a prominent member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), revealed in a tweet that it had produced less than 60 million.
He said that the tax fell short of what the administration had anticipated.
What choices does the government have? What alternative, if chosen, will restore investor confidence in our economy? should be the proper inquiry. Will it assist even if we manage to raise the $3–5 billion necessary? "E-levy, which was supposed to have given us about 600 million by now, has only generated less than 60 million," he wrote in his tweet.