President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has dismissed proposals that Ghana’s administration turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help in reviving the country’s ailing economy.
Ghana, according to the President, cannot rely on foreign aid to save its economy indefinitely.
“Ghana will not be able to continue to rely on foreign grants and loans to keep its economy afloat indefinitely.” “We have to find the money for our economic development,” he said during a meeting with some chiefs from the Dzodze Traditional Area in the Volta Region. “That is why it has become necessary for us to introduce these measures like this famous [electronic transaction] tax that has caused so many disputes.”
The President’s remarks follow demands that Ghana seek financial help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Some financial analysts and even members of the NPP have criticized the government’s plan to raise income through the Electronic Transaction Levy, claiming that the estimated revenue from the controversial levy will not be adequate.
Dr. Mark Assibey Yeboah, a former New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for New Juaben South and a former Chair of Parliament’s Finance Committee, has encouraged the government to reconsider its decision not to return to the IMF in the light of the country’s diminishing earnings.
He maintained that the government’s insistence on passing the Electronic-Transaction Levy to shore up its revenue target is not right given the existential economic challenges.
However, the President, in response to these suggestions, emphasised the importance of the e-levy, saying “it is necessary for us to do so because that is the only way these matters can be addressed.”
“I am determined to persevere to make sure we find the means to address the issues that you have got. The government does not have money on its own. It has money from the taxes from the people. That is the only way it raises money to carry out its work,” President Akufo-Addo added.
