We need the E-levy to provide roads – Deputy Finance Minister
Deputy Finance Minister Charles Adu-Boahen has backed the government’s decision to introduce Electronic Transaction Levy citing that monies that will be paid as tolls will now be taken care of by the 1.75 per cent E-levy.
Although government understands the fact that the levy will affect Ghanaians who do not use tolled rolls, Mr Adu Boahene indicated that it is the government’s intention to share the burden to develop Ghana’s road infrastructure.
The monies from these funds according to the government will be used to develop and maintain public roads.
“A lot of thought was put into trying to find a solution where we could share the burden,” he said.
“We have to provide roads and roads are something everybody wants… roads are not only for people to move but also to evacuate produce,” the Deputy Minister explained further.
The e-tolls has been recommended as a more efficient way to collect tolls because of the traffic disruption manual toll booths cause.
But Mr. Adu-Boahen said e-toll booths would not make financial sense.
“To set up that whole thing costs money. If I am going to do that to collect only GHS 1 from you, it would take me 50 years to recover my investment.”
“I don’t believe that any solution would have been viable without a dramatic increase in the amount we were charging,” he added.
The E-levy is expected to cover mobile money transactions and payments, bank transfers, merchant payments, and inward remittances as well.
Per the rules, the levy will be paid by the sender, but be waived for transactions that amount to GHS 100 or less in a day.
The government has said portions of revenue collected from the levy will be used to support entrepreneurship, youth employment and cybersecurity.
By: Stella Annan | myactiveonline.com Twitter @activetvgh
