Bernard Otabil (M) with participants
The Bank of Ghana (BoG), has held a training workshop on accurate reporting, Monetary Policy practice and Inflation dynamics for Business and Financial Journalists in the Eastern region.
The two-day training workshop sensitised the journalists on accurate reporting, Monetary Policy Practice, Inflation dynamics in Ghana and recent developments in Foreign Exchange Market.
Other topics discussed also include Responsible Borrowing, Understanding Central bank balance sheet, Macroeconomic Analysis and Significance of Macroeconomic Indicators.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Director of Communications at the Bank of Ghana, Mr. Bernard Otabil, said the initiative to hold a training workshop reflects the Bank’s commitment to foster a well-informed media landscape, particularly in the areas of monetary policy, macroeconomic analysis, and financial reporting.
According to him, effective communications by the Central bank plays a critical role in enhancing transparency to improve public understanding and confidence in the monetary policy decisions of the bank.
He said while the media has consistently served as a vital conduit for
disseminating information on the activities of the bank and decisions to the public, there is a persistent need for enhanced clarity of the Monetary Policy framework and the underlying factors influencing the decision-making process of the bank.
He said the training workshops held for journalists are also aimed at addressing the challenges posed by misinformation and disinformation in the country as well as strengthening the relationship between the Bank and journalists across the regions.
He said apart from the Eastern region, the Central bank has so far trained about 75 other journalists from the Volta, Western, and Ashanti region.
The Director of Communications further mentioned that the engagements has not only afforded the bank opportunity to formalise and establish a dedicated press corps that have helped disseminate the banks monetary policy decisions and activities to Ghanaians in the regions in real time but has also enhanced public accountability.
He added that the Communications Department under the leadership of the Governor, Dr. Johnson Asiama will continue to roll out other innovative programmes to enable the public receive information on its activities having already introduced some remarkable innovations such as publications of the submissions of the members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to enhance transparency.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah