The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has organized a two-day intensive capacity building workshop for some selected Journalists in the Northern Zone of Ghana on Financial and Economic Reporting.
The initiative forms part of the Central Bank’s strategy aimed at enhancing the knowledge and skills of business and financial reporters to effectively and efficiently communicate monetary policy issues to the public.
The workshop was held on the theme: “Sustaining the Recovery: The Role of the Journalist in Building Confidence” saw the participants taken through the Central Bank Monetary Policy Practice in Ghana; Inflation dynamics in Ghana; Balance of Payments; Foreign Exchange Market/Currency Volatilities, Causes and Effects and the eCedi Project amongst others.
The First Deputy Governor, Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari in his keynote address presented on his behalf at the opening ceremony last Friday, said the sponsorship of the training speaks to the commitment of the Central Bank in improving the quality of financial and business journalism in Ghana.
He noted a critical mass of financial and business journalists are capable of dissecting complex financial and economic data and in an accurate manner on the country’s macroeconomic and financial situation to help sustain the economic recovery in this period of heightened uncertainties.
“Let me indicate that the coming months will be challenging for media reporting and the country will need your support in navigating the interactions between the Government of Ghana and the IMF.
“As you’re all aware on 1st July 2022, the Government of Ghana announced its intention to seek support on an IMF Funded Program. This process is not going to be a smooth sailing and I can assure you that there are going to be newsworthy issues arising out of the engagement” the Deputy Governor hinted.
Accordingly, he stated the role of the media will have to begin with authentic sources of obtaining information on the process and report these to the public in a manner that will seek to bring about confidence in the process.
Economic growth
Dr Maxwell Opoku-Afari commenting on the growth prospects in Ghana said recent data points to some softening in the growth momentum despite the strong rebound from the pandemic in 2021 as evident by the 5.4 percent overall real GDP growth and 6.3 non-oil GDP growth.
He stated the national accounts data released by Ghana Statistical Service showed that the economy grew, in year-on-year terms, by 3.6 percent in the first quarter of 2022, a figure he stressed fell below the then 6.6 percent expected growth for 2022.
The Deputy Governor emphasized the high frequency data such as Composite Index of Economic Activity (CIEA), Business and Consumer Confidence Indices seem to confirm softening of economic activity which has prompted downward revision of the growth target to 3.7 percent from initial 5.6.
Meanwhile, the GJA Northern Regional Chairman, Mr. Yakubu Abdul Majeed in his remarks thanked the Bank of Ghana and the Governor in particular, for seeing the capacity building training prudent and approving funds for it.
He noted the two-day training was an eye-opener and urged the participants to make good use of the skills acquired in the line of duty.
The Representative of PRINPAG, Mr. Nii Laryea Sowah affectionately known Kenteman on his part also commended the Central Bank for the collaboration to empower the media.
He however made a passionate appeal to BoG to ensure the training becomes an annual activity in order to further deepen the capacity of the business and financial reporters across the country.
According to Kenteman, such opportunities are hard to come by for journalists outside the national capital therefore reiterating the need for it to be frequently organized in the other areas.
