STC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nana Akomea, has condemned recommendations for Ghana to return to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial remedy of the economy.
Following controversies in approving the government’s e-levy proposal, some critics have suggested that the country should go back to the IMF for a loan to improve the economy.
However, IMF financial assistance to recipients always comes with conditionalities.
Speaking on Peace FM’s ‘Kokroko’ programme, Nana Akomea found the IMF not a better option to solving Ghana’s economic problems.
He recounted the considerations that the IMF gives before granting loans, stating they would compel the government to widen the tax net for Ghanaians and further impose conditions that will compound the plight of Ghanaians.
” . . . That’s what they will tell you. And they will tell you that there has to be transparency and accountability with the money you are collecting. They will tell you that. So, if we know all these, why go to the IMF? Even with the IMF money, the 1 billion and so forth, it’s not for free. Ghanaians are the same people who will bear the burden to pay up,” he said.
Expressing his dissenting views to the proposition to go to the IMF, Nana Akomea threw his weight behind the government to push for the e-levy to be implemented.
However, he advised that they reduce the percentage of deduction on the e-levy significantly to stimulate Ghanaians to pay this electronic transaction tax.
“We need to sacrifice and share in the economic burden,” he stated.
Nana Akomea also advised the government to be transparent and accountable to the citizenry in order to boost their urge to contribute their quotas to the development of Ghana.
He added that the government must put proper mechanisms in place to streamline the economy, stressing, “let’s go beyond the trust and look at the mechanisms [to ensure] because you cannot trust any government in the world. As I talk with you today, everywhere you go, UK or America, you will find people accusing the government of not accounting properly for the monies spent”.
