Government insists that the COVID-19 levy remains crucial for addressing the lingering financial impacts of the pandemic, despite widespread calls from the business community for its repeal.

In the lead-up to the mid-year budget review, the business community called for the removal of several taxes they deem redundant, including the COVID-19 levy.

Many businesses argued that the tax, which was initially implemented to mitigate the financial impact of the pandemic, has outlived its usefulness and now poses a significant burden, making Ghana less attractive to investors.

Despite these concerns, the government has defended the retention of the COVID-19 levy.

Abena Osei-Asare, Minister of State at the Finance Ministry, appeared before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on Wednesday to address the issue.

According to her, although the immediate threat of COVID-19 has diminished, the financial impacts of the pandemic 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,” she added.