Editor-in-Chief of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has slammed government over its Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) initiative aimed at generating revenues to improve the infrastructure development of the country and better the lives of Ghanaians.
Contributing to Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, Mr. Pratt burst the government's bubble with his assertions that the E-Levy won't solve the country's financial challenges.
According to him, "the hole in the country's purse, E-Levy can't fill it. Even if we collect everything, what we expect, it can't fill that hole. So, E-Levy was not a solution, is not a solution and will never be a solution to that problem of the deficit. The deficit is far, far bigger than the E-Levy...We all know, from the very beginning, that E-Levy was not a solution. It has not been a solution. It has never been a solution".
Kwesi Pratt's comments come after recent tweets by Gabby Otchere-Darko, a member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and cousin to President Nana Akufo-Addo, regarding the E-Levy and the IMF.
To him, the E-Levy is not serving its purpose.
"After 5 months of stalemate and bashing, the e-levy, after implementation, is delivering only 10% of estimated revenues; our revenues remain very low as compared to the rest of the world; debt levels dangerously high, cedi like most currencies, struggling against the dollar", he tweeted on Monday.
Mr. Otchere-Darko further tweeted; “Am I against an IMF programme in principle? No. I am not for an IMF programme that throws peanuts at us but imposes conditions that will end up hurting the poor, jobs and businesses more."
His tweets have courted controversies as some critics believe he is subtly stirring the government to reconsider its position of not going to the IMF.
To Kwesi Pratt, though the E-Levy is not a solution to the country's problems, "the IMF won't help us today or tomorrow" either.
"The IMF is not a good thing nor a good place for anybody to go...IMF is not a solution at all. We shouldn't even think about it at all; let's not go there!", he further stressed.
He asked the government to find a different better way to ameliorate the plight of the citizenry.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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Listen and listen good. "Little drops of water makes a mighty ocean".
GHANAIANS DON'T STOP DIGITIZATION I HAVE READ THAT SINCE MTN WENT TO NIGERIA THEY HAVE JUMP ON MOBILE MONEY PAYMENTS , TRANSFERS, ETC. AND SOON THAT NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT KEEP COPING GHANA WILL HAVE E-LEVY IF IT IS A BAD THING AS NDC FOOOO LS HAVE MADE IT LOOK LIKE IS BAD. GHANAIANS PAY YOUR TAXES AND STOP CRISING ENOUGH OF THAT. CURRENCY GLOBALLY FLUATUATES BUT IT ALWAYS YOUR BALANCE OF TRADE THAT CHANGE THE CURRENCY STRENGTH. HOW MANY ADDED VALUE DOES GHANA EXPORT. WE KEEP IMPORTING RICE WHICH IT CAN BE GROWN IN GHANA EASILY,WE IMPORT WHEAT WHICH CAN EASILY GROW IN GHANA JUST LIKE EQYPT, BRASIL, OR ANY TROPICAL NATION WITHOUT ANY PROBLEM. SO WE ARE SICK AS A NATION WE MUST SMARTUP AND STOP THE NOISE EVERYTIME WHICH IS NPOT HELPING.NDC SO IGNOOOOOOORANT, LOOOOOOOOSERS THEY DON'T EVEN UNDERSTANT THE CONSTITUTION, CANNOT EVEN INTERPRATE THE LAW. AGAIN INEVERYTHING THEY HAVE NO SOLUTION EXCEPT CRITISIMS SUCH LOOOOOOSERS LEADERS AND LOOOOOTERS.