Finance Minister elated over GRA exceeding 2021 revenue target; wants 'saviour' e-Levy approved at all cost

The Minister in charge of Finance, Mr. Ken Ofori-Attah says although the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is excelling in mobilising revenue, the controversial Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) must be approved at all cost.

A total of GH¢57.32 billion in revenue was collected by the Authority in 2021 against the GH¢57.055 billion targets.

The amount represented 0.5 percent growth over the tax revenue collections, amounting to GH¢265.39 million for the 2021 fiscal year.

The amount collected was in excess of the 2021 target for GRA set by government.

According to him, while there are fears target set by the government for 2022 would not be met, he is confident that with the good work of the GRA and the complement of e-Levy, naysayers will be shamed.

“With this new dawn of GRA exceeding targets, we expect that to continue. With the new national ID system the now 15.5 million people are going to be on their books.

The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Rev. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah

“That is what gives me the excitement into the future because when I read the Fitch Report, you are doubting that we can make our revenues, I am confident that we can. They are worried that we cant come to the international market, we are saying it's fine, we have our SDRs that will suffice for the first half and then we will figure out another method of getting there,” Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta told the press on Wednesday.

As Parliament prepares to resume sitting, the Minister for Finance stresses that all the energy will be channelled to getting E-Levy approved.

“So plan B is to stay focused and ensure that we get our E-levy through, ensure that our domestic revenue mobilization is strong and that be, we do not need to go the market,” he added.

Parliament is expected to resume sitting on Tuesday, January 25, 2022.