Ghana Passes Key Tax Law Needed for Budget Target; Bonds Rally
- Finance minister reduced proposed levy to 1.5% from 1.75%
- Investors worried about Ghana’s ability to meet fiscal targets
Ken Ofori-Atta
Photographer: Simon Dawson/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Ghanaian lawmakers approved a tax on electronic payments, a key piece of legislation needed by the government to reduce its budget deficit this year. The West African nation’s dollar bonds rallied.
The so-called e-levy, first proposed by Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta in November, was passed after he cut it to 1.5% from 1.75%. Minority legislators who had opposed the tax staged a walkout while it was being debated in parliament Tuesday in the capital, Accra.