The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has admitted that the decision by government to abolish the road tolls has cost the country.
The government scrapped the payment of road tolls of all public roads and bridges in the country in November 2021, after the Minister for Finance presented the 2022 Budget Statement and Economic Policy proposal of the government to Parliament.
After the decision was taken and instantly enforced, the government hoped that the Electronic Transaction Levy (E-Levy) would be replace the road tolls.
Five months on as government struggles to have the levy passed by Parliament, Ken Ofori-Atta has noted that the removal of the tolls has become problematic.
“The challenge really is, we passed the appropriation very quickly because there was an absolute belief in the direction that we were going and then the politics came to stall the issue of the revenue measure which is E-levy, and therefore, the issue of the tolls being disbanded having become a chain around our necks,” the Minister for Finance said at an E-Levy town hall meeting on Friday held in the Volta Region.
As the country continues to struggle economically, the government is pushing to ensure it receives parliamentary approval for the implementation of the Electronic Transaction Levy.
Reports suggest that next week, the levy will be reintroduced into the agenda of Parliament.
