The government is expecting Mobile Money transactions to drop by about 24 percent after the introduction of the Electronic Transfer Levy, a deputy Finance Minister, John Kumah, has said.

Speaking on The Big Issue, Mr. Kumah said the government also had a plan to boost education on the controversial e-levy.

“The research we did also told us that there will be about 24 percent attrition rate in the three months to six months that we will introduce it.”

“The research same told us what should be done to bring back these people after a while, and we have all these things in place,” Mr. Kumah said.

“It is a matter of engagement and letting people understand that, don’t avoid it. It is your pride of place as a Ghanaian to know that your contribution is helping to build your country.”

Mr. Kumah also said the government is “more than confident” that the level of attrition rate “will not lead to job losses.”

The government has proposed a new 1.5 percent rate for the levy, which was earlier pegged at 1.75%, despite the rejection by the Minority in Parliament and opposition from a section of the public.

Among the critics have been mobile money vendors who fear job losses in their sector.

In line with these concerns, the Mobile Money Association of Ghana petitioned the Minority caucus in Parliament to push for the rejection of the tax policy.

It also called for more consultations on the issue.

The value of mobile money transactions reached GH¢89.1 billion in 2021 after a 96.7 percent increase from the previous year.

The government has defended the unpopular levy as being necessary to widen the tax net, arguing that it could raise an extra GH¢ 6.9 billion to execute developmental projects in 2022.