The Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta is optimistic that the electronic transaction levy would be approved, though the ongoing debate on the controversial 1.75% E-levy is facing some opposition from a section of the public.
He said if Parliament fails to approve the bill, the government has another alternative to raise revenue.
He said it will seek revenue from the petroleum sector.
“There are always a lot of options, but you’re really looking at the future and seeing how we can address the problem of more revenue and everyone engaging,” he said while speaking to journalists in Accra on Friday, February 18, 2022.
According to Ofori-Atta, “The challenge is, for example, assuming you earn a million cedis a year and you transfer all of that through MoMo. What am I asking of you? GH¢15,000. Is that what you have been fighting against? Or if you are a student and assuming your earn GH¢100,000, which is unlikely, that means what, a GH¢1,500.
“So you then begin to ask the question, what is it that we are fighting against? And if I have also said the first hundred cedis will not be a part of it which means 3000 monthly income.”
“The alternatives are many, you can go into petroleum, but is that really what you want? The mood of the country is different from the arithmetic in Parliament and that is why I have gone around,” he added.