The Bank of Ghana, together with Ecobank Ghana, has sponsored a two-day training workshop for 35 business journalists in Accra aimed at deepening their understanding of the monetary policy framework of the economy.
The training, which was organised by the Journalists for Business Advocacy (JBA), was themed: ‘Monetary policy, tools for economic development’.
The participating journalists, who spanned from print and electronic media, were taken through the various monetary policy regimes the economy has gone through to its present state.
Some of the facilitators of the training included Dr. Kwame Osei-Yeboah, Head of Macroprudential Office, Bank of Ghana; Eric Adjapong, Bank Examiner—Policy and Regulation, Banking and Supervision Department, Bank of Ghana; and Economist Dr. John Gatsi of the University of Cape Coast.
Speaking at the workshop, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, praised the JBA for putting together such a training that will immensely benefit the media in their reportage on the economy.
He further threw more light on how the Bank of Ghana is using inflation targeting to ensure price stability in the economy.
“Inflation targeting has served the Bank of Ghana well over the past decade. The framework has helped lower inflation and inflation volatility as well as exchange rate variability. Prior to the implementation of the framework, inflation was highly volatile and hovered above 40 percent, but has since declined significantly and edging closer to the medium-term target of 8±2 percent,” he said.
He further urged the media to collaborate with the bank to send the right message to the public.
“As markets work better with more information, good communication practices will have to be promoted and must not be neglected or downplayed. We are, therefore, entreating the media to continue to play an integral role in the monetary policy process by effectively communicating the intentions and directions of the central bank policies to economic agents to better anchor expectations,” the governor said.
Also commenting on the training, Morgan Asiedu, Executive Director of Ecobank Ghana, said business journalists play a very important role in the country’s economy, especially SMEs, hence, the bank’s decision to sponsor the programme.
“We encourage you to continue this excellent initiative of running annual workshops for your members, and more importantly, guiding SME operators in the regions to build their business into formal institutions that can overcome some of the key challenges facing the sector,” he said.
Giving his thought on the training, B&FT’s participant, Obed Attah Yeboah, said the workshop has enlightened him and added up to his knowledge what monetary policy is and how it impacts the economy, adding that, it will improve the quality of his stories.
By Obed Attah Yeboah l thebftonline.com l Ghana
