Accra: The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has conducted an intensive media capacity-building workshop for journalists in the Eastern Region to enhance their financial reporting competencies and deepen understanding of Ghana's monetary policy framework and decision-making processes. This initiative, which took place from June 25 to 28, is part of the Central Bank's national media engagement strategy aimed at promoting accurate economic reporting, curbing misinformation and disinformation, and enhancing public understanding of monetary policy decisions.
According to Ghana News Agency, Mr. Bernard Ato Otabil, Director of Communications at the Bank of Ghana, emphasized the essential role of the media in shaping national discourse on financial and macroeconomic issues during the workshop's opening session. He stressed that the programme was sanctioned by the Bank's management due to the media's crucial role in enhancing the Bank's work, highlighting that an informed press is vital for building public trust in monetary policy decisions. Mr. Otabil noted that the workshop served not only as a training event but also as a strategic platform to strengthen ties between the central bank and regional journalists.
The workshop trained approximately 28 participants on key topics such as accurate financial reporting, the dynamics of inflation in Ghana, developments in the foreign exchange market, macroeconomic indicators, monetary policy practices, and the workings of the central bank's balance sheet. Mr. Otabil also lauded Governor Dr. Johnson Pandit Asiama for implementing transformative practices that improved media access and engagement, including engaging the media at the start of every Monetary Policy Committee meeting to share expectations in the context of domestic and global economic trends.
In a significant step toward transparency and accountability, the Central Bank now publishes individual submissions of Monetary Policy Committee members, aligning Ghana's practices with global standards among inflation-targeting central banks. Since adopting the inflation-targeting monetary policy framework in 2007, this marks the first time such submissions have been released.
The BoG has held similar capacity-building workshops in the Volta, Ashanti, and Western Regions, training over 75 journalists to date. With today's programme, anticipated attendance could raise that number to 100. These engagements have led to the formalization of a regional press corps and the creation of dedicated WhatsApp channels for rapid information dissemination, thereby enhancing the Bank's accountability to the public.
Mr. Otabil also addressed the need for informed and balanced reporting on the 'Abotsi' or black-market forex sector, cautioning against misinformation and misplaced criticism over foreign exchange stability concerns. He highlighted the contributions of local economic actors like Abotsi, who operate visible, minimal-scale financial activities compared to the overall foreign exchange operations in Ghana.
Mr. Maxwell Kudekor, Eastern Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association, commended the Bank for its commitment to improving journalistic excellence through targeted training initiatives. He underscored the association's long-standing partnerships with various institutions to enhance journalists' essential skills and contribute to a well-informed society, noting that these efforts would improve the professional competencies of Ghanaian journalists and empower them to remain competitive in a constantly evolving media landscape.
