Renowned Economist, Professor John Gatsi, has noted that the flagbaerer and leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia will find it difficult to discard the electronic financial transactions, otherwise referred to as E-Levy, if he is voted as President come December, 2024.

During the Vision Launch of the NPP flagbarer on Wednesday, February, 2024 at the University for Professional Studies, Accra, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia pledged as part of new measures of his government to abolish the e-levy and four other taxes to encourage the population to use electronic channels for payment.

Speaking to the vision statement of the flagbearer’s proposal, Professor Gatsi, who is the Dean of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) Business School said, ‘’fulfilling it would be a challenge as the levy was introduced by the government to generate revenue, as part of requirements by the International Monetary Fund for the grant of an extended credit facility’’.

He described the proposal as merely a political strategy to make Dr. Bawumia the preferred candidate to vote for in the upcoming polls.

The Finance Professor indicated that it is something the NPP’s flagbearer cannot do when voted as president.

“I believe that all these discussions are going to be centered on 2025, and it is just a political strategy to make Bawumia look good for the election because you have already created a revenue stream for this government, and the IMF program will not end in 2025. So, to say, you need the same level of revenue to sustain the program. I don’t understand how you will be able to take one revenue source from the kitty and remain sustainable in the eyes of the IMF.”

“What Bawumia should be saying is that he will propose taxes A or B to replace the e-levy. If that is not what he is saying, then it is not something he can do, especially under the IMF programme,” Prof Gatsi stated.

The Vice President, as part of his Vision for the next government in 2025, promised to scrap some taxes imposed before the government which recently included the Emission levy and the VAT on Electricity.

However, the Government, in a press release on Wednesday, February 7, suspended the implementation of the tax of electricity.