The Director
of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the
University of Ghana, Prof. Peter Quartey, has called on the government to use
the 2022 midyear budget to review the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) to make
it cheaper for more Ghanaians to contribute to it.
In an interview ahead of the mid-year review next Monday, the Economics
professor said a revised collection rate from 1.5 percent to 0.5 percent,
intensified education and accompanying measures would encourage compliance and
narrow the revenue generation gap recorded in the first quarter of the year.
He explained that most Ghanaians were evading the levy because of the high
rate, limited education and loopholes associated with the structure of the levy.
In another interview ahead of the mid-year budget review, a former Minister of
Finance, Seth Terkper, called for bold revisions to the 2022 targets to help
inspire market confidence and soften the ground for an economic programme with
the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Mr Terkper said the mid-year budget review must also be used to psych up and
prepare the citizenry towards an IMF bailout which, he said, would be dominated
by belt-tightening measures, especially in the first years.
The former member of staff of the IMF mentioned steep cuts in revenue and
expenditure targets as some of the things needed to signal to the IMF that the
country was ready to take the needed decisions to help restore fiscal
discipline.
Both eminent personalities were sharing their views with the Daily Graphic
yesterday ahead of the mid-year budget review expected to be laid in Parliament
next Monday.
Source: graphic.com.gh