‘Our recovery programme very credible, we’ll come out stronger’ – Akufo-Addo defends e-levy on BBC

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has expressed confidence in the government’s recent strategies aimed at reviving the struggling economy.

Speaking to the BBC’s Peter Okowche, President Nana Addo said the government’s strategies will offer the country the chance to recover from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In Ghana, the recovery programme we have is very credible and that is what is going to give us the opportunity to come out of this period a stronger economy, and it is that future we are looking at. The digital economy is emerging as the biggest economy in the country and for a long period, it has not had any tax at all, so it is important that it also comes into the net. ”

The President assented to the E-levy Bill on Thursday, despite a challenge at the Supreme Court by the Minority in Parliament against its passage.

The government had hoped the levy will widen the tax net and raise an extra GH¢6.9 billion in 2022 when it was first announced in the budget.

However, that did not happen, as the bill was laid in Parliament for consideration in March.

President Akufo-Addo believes criticisms against the passage of the controversial tax are unfounded, as countries affected by the pandemic equally resorted to unpopular measures to revive the economy.

“The world is going through very difficult times. Ghana is no exception, Nigeria is no exception. There is no country in the world that has escaped the ravages of COVID-19… What you need to look at is the elements being put on the ground that looks beyond the Russia Ukraine war.”

“The economy has gone through very difficult times. I can quote statistics of the US and UK economies, but they will not serve a purpose. It is a phenomenon that is going on which has made life difficult,” Akufo-Addo explained.