Prof. Godfred Bokpin, an economist and lecturer in finance at the University of Ghana, has lent his support to the campaigns for the elimination of the electronic transfer charge.

His worry is that the E-Levy, especially at a time when the government is looking for an IMF bailout, undermines the government’s aim for digital inclusion and should be suspended.

“One of the things I’m looking forward to government doing as we engage the IMF is to suspend the e-levy. Government should take advantage of the mid-year review and suspend it. And then let’s look at other compliant measures we can use to rake in a lot more money. Because the digital agenda is important,” he said in a JoyFm interview.

In the meantime, the Finance Ministry responded “NO” to the query “Will government cancel the E-Levy since IMF will provide Ghana money. IMF financing for Ghana will be used to strengthen the country’s balance of payments (i.e., to shore up the international reserves). In order to ensure that the government can continue to support its developmental goals without the assistance of the IMF and that the tax-to-GPD ratio rises to the peer range of 16 to 18 percent, the government is committed to ensuring the smooth operationalization of all taxes, including the e-levy.

The ministry continued: “An IMF-supported program is likely to urge the government to look into the things that are preventing the e-levy from succeeding (including by offering technical assistance if needed) and come up with improvements. For the medium term, more tax measures might be taken into consideration.