The Bank of Ghana has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening transparency and economic literacy through closer collaboration with the media, especially financial journalists across the country.
Speaking at the opening of a four-day training workshop for journalists in Ghana’s Eastern Region, the Bank’s Director of Communications, Bernard Otabil, emphasized the critical role journalists play in shaping public understanding of monetary policy and macroeconomic developments.
Mr. Otabil noted that the initiative spearheaded by the Bank’s Communications Department, was designed to enhance the quality of financial reporting and promote a more informed public discourse.
“This initiative reflects our unwavering commitment to fostering a well-informed media landscape,” he said, citing transparency and accountability as core principles of the Bank’s communication strategy.
The training is part of a broader effort by the central bank to counter misinformation and improve the clarity of its monetary policy communications. According to Mr. Otabil, the Bank has already organised similar workshops in the Volta, Western, and Ashanti regions, training a total of 75 journalists so far. The number is expected to reach 100 after the Eastern Region session.
Through these engagements, the Bank has established regional press corps tasked with disseminating monetary policy decisions and central bank actions to the broader public in real time. This regional press structure has been supported by dedicated WhatsApp platforms to streamline communication with journalists—an approach that will be extended to the Eastern Region if participating reporters meet performance criteria during the workshop.
Over the next two days, journalists will receive training on key economic topics including Ghana’s monetary policy framework, inflation dynamics, exchange rate trends, responsible borrowing, the central bank’s balance sheet, and how to interpret macroeconomic indicators. “These sessions are designed to build capacity and improve the accuracy of financial reporting,” Mr. Otabil explained.
He also used the opportunity to highlight two key innovations introduced by Governor Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama aimed at improving the Bank’s media transparency. The first is a new practice of hosting kick-off meetings with the media at the start of every Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
During these sessions, the Governor shares his expectations for the policy discussions in the context of global and domestic economic trends. Otabil described the meetings as “crucial to the Bank’s monetary policy process.”
The second innovation is the public release of individual submissions by MPC members—something that had not been done since the adoption of Ghana’s inflation-targeting framework in 2007.
Mr. Otabil said this move aligns the Bank with international best practices and gives the public and journalists deeper insight into the policymaking process. “Reading these minutes would be useful for your work,” he told participants.
Mr. Otabil concluded by assuring participants that the Communications Department will soon share a detailed list of other media-related innovations introduced by Governor Asiama.
He formally declared the workshop open and encouraged participants to take full advantage of the opportunity.
