The Ghanaian Mobile Money (MoMo) Agents Association has asked for a reduction in Electronic Transfer Levy (E-levy), which is now 1% to between 0.1 and 0.5%,

The 2023 budget and economic strategy were presented by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, who also promised a 1.5% to 1% reduction in the E-Levy.

Additionally, he stated that starting in 2023, all transactions would henceforth be subject to the rules.

However, the agents claim that if the government adopts a different perspective on the rate, the predicted income objective may still be met.

Speaking to Citi News, the General Secretary of the Association, Evans Otumfour said, Ghanaians will keep evading the levy if there is no further reduction.

“Government must conduct a research to find out why people are not patronizing MoMo. It is obvious that the rate is one of the major hindrances to government achieving its revenue. So government must reduce the rate so that a lot of people will not be impacted. There are over 17 million MoMo users, so if government pegs the rate at 0.1 or 0.5 percent, it will still meet its revenue target. If not, people will look for alternatives like the use of cash.”

Even, the Minority in Parliament has suggested a 0.5 percent Electronic Transfer Levy and a GHS300 threshold to cushion poorer Ghanaians.

The caucus' leader, Haruna Iddrisu, declared that his group was willing to collaborate with the administration to address the economic problem.

“We will subject it [the new E-levy rate] to further critical and thorough discussions as a caucus in order to assist the government to get out of its eminent economic crisis,” he said.

“But without going into the scenarios, as you look at your scenarios, consider another 0.5 percent at a threshold of GHS 300 as compared to what you have admitted of 1 percent at a threshold of zero,” the Minority leader added.

Some users of mobile money have also voiced their discontent with the suggested adjustments.