Associate Professor at the Department of Finance of the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), Prof. Lord Mensah has indicated that it is highly likely government will not reach its target set for the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy).
According to him, people’s understanding of how the controversial levy will work is very low. As a result, he fears the revenue target will be difficult to reach for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
“We need to understand that the financial space thrives on information.
“The financial literacy of the people doing MoMo is low.
“Government may not be able to hit its target if people still do not understand the E-Levy operation,” Prof. Lord Mensah said in an engagement on the GTV Breakfast Show on Monday, April 4, 2022.
In the view of the UGBS Associate Professor, it is problematic to have the impression that e-levy is going to affect all transactions.
He proposes that government needs to invest in educating the public for people to know that panic withdrawals after the passage of the Electronic Transaction Levy bill into law are needless.
“The government needs to invest more in education. The panic withdrawal is not necessary,” Prof. Lord Mensah stressed.
The President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo last week assented to the E-Levy bill into law.
Ahead of its implementation in May, the Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications has reported massive panic withdrawals across the country.
This is very common among Ghanaians who do not subscribe to the taxation of MoMo and other financial transactions that would be affected by the E-Levy.
