E-levy: Gov’t considered the plight of Ghanaians – Boakye-Danquah

The economic conditions of Ghanaians were considered in the approval of the e-levy, Government’s Spokesperson on Governance and Security, Mr Palgrave Boakye-Danquah has said.

This resulted in the reduction of the rate from the initial 1.75 per cent to 1.5 per cent, he said.

He added persons who transact below ¢100 a day are also taken out from the policy.

Speaking on the New Day show with Johnnie Hughes on Tuesday April 12, he said “…Close to about 40 per cent of the Ghanaian people having started mobile money interoperability over the successive years do transactions below a Hundred Ghana cedis threshold, 47 per cent, which leaves us to close to about 53 per cent of data, doing transaction above a hundred Ghana cedis.

“So having sat through and having seen that digital platform has grown massively, the conversation about the e-levy is, if you do transaction below a hundred Ghana Cedis threshold, you are not charged that 1.5 per cent.

“If you see the various conversations on the e-levy, we have taken the light of the Ghanaian into consideration because a sizable part of the persons that are going to contribute is the 53 per cent who will do transaction above the 100 cedis per day.”

The e-levy policy was approved by a one-sided Parliament on Tuesday March 29 after the minority staged a walkout.

President Akufo-Addo on Thursday March 31 assented to the bill into law on Thursday March 31.

Mobile Money agents indicated that they suffered panic withdrawals following the approval

The General Secretary of the Mobile Money Agents Association of Ghana (MMAAG), Mr. Evans Otumfuo attributed this situation to the lack of education on the policy.

“The panic response form our customers is very disturbing but then we understand them because there had been lack of education,” he told 3FM on Friday April 1.

But Mr Boakye-Danquah said “That panic withdrawal, even the Minister has stated that it is expected that people would go and panic withdraw.

“But it is not in the highest of percentages as you will think. Because this digital platform and this online business has come to stay. At the back bench is what we need not to lose sight of is, we are expanding the tax bracket of having 2.3million people who contribute income tax on a regulars basis to the upper echelon of the18million people.”

Source:3news