The business community has called for the removal of the COVID-19 fee, but the government maintains that it is necessary to address the pandemic’s ongoing financial effects.
The business community lobbied for the elimination of many levies, notably the COVID-19 charge, in the run-up to the mid-year budget review.
Many companies contended that the levy, which was first put in place to lessen the financial impact of the pandemic, has outlived its usefulness and is currently a major burden, deterring investors from investing in Ghana.
The government has supported the continuation of the COVID-19 levy in spite of these worries.
The topic was discussed by Abena Osei-Asare, Minister of State in the Finance Ministry, during her appearance before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on Wednesday.
She claims that even if COVID-19 is no longer as serious of a concern, the pandemic’s financial effects are still being felt.
“The threat of COVID-19 is no more. But the impact of Covid we still feel. There are so many things we did during the pandemic that we have had to take care of. The effect of Covid is still with us and that money is being used to address part of the effect of Covid 19. Covid is gone, but the effect is still with us. We still have to pay for vaccines.”
“Also once Parliament passed the Covid-19 levy, approval of the revenues that should come in in 2024, it is still one of the revenues that we are collecting as a government,”
