Tema, Nov. 25, GNA – The Reverend Dr Samuel Worlanyo Mensah, an economist and Executive Director of the Centre for Greater Impact Africa, has urged the government to be proactive in the handling economic issues.
Speaking on the Bank of Ghana Policy Rate increase and its implications, Rev. Dr Mensah said even though the policy rate hike was one of the ways to reduce inflation, the Bank could have maintained or cut the rate.
Rev. Dr Mensah was addressing a Stakeholder seminar organised by the Ghana News Agency at Tema to enable state and non-state actors to address national issues.
He described the increase as a ‘harsh economic measure’, explaining that Ghanaians were still struggling from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on their businesses and needed policies that would cushion them rather than increase their woes.
The BoG, on Monday, increased the rate by one per cent from 13.5 per cent to 14.5 per cent.
Rev. Dr Mensah said the hike in the policy rate would push the commercial banks to increase the already high-interest rate on loans, which would either deter businesses from borrowing to expand or force them to push the cost to the public through price increases of goods and services.
The policy rate is the rate at which the BoG could lend to commercial banks.
The event also served as a motivational mechanism to recognize the editorial contribution of reporters towards national development in general and the growth and promotion of the Tema GNA as the industrial news hub.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, GNA Tema Regional Manager, explained that the Dialogue platform formed part of the broader objectives of the Agency to educate the public on important issues.