The Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Asiama, has announced that the Central Bank will engage the private sector and market traders at least twice a year to provide insights into the monetary policy rate and other key monetary policy strategies.
This follows demands from private sector-led groups at the just-ended National Economic Dialogue, where stakeholders called for greater transparency and collaboration in shaping monetary policies that impact businesses and the broader economy.
Responding to these concerns, Dr. Asiama emphasized that the Bank of Ghana remains committed to openness, adding that such engagements will promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth by ensuring that businesses and key economic actors are well-informed and involved in policy discussions.
“The private sector asked two things and I want to assure them that we going to do exactly that: the first one is that they want to meet with us twice every year and that underscores our vision of being transparent,” he assured.
He added that; “It is about getting Ghanaians to understand what we do as a central bank; I was telling the GUTA President for example that we are coming to Makola and get them to understand why the rate are jacked up”
Banks’ average lending rates hovered around the 30% bracket during the second half of 2024, after declining from 32% at the beginning of the year.
According to data from the Bank of Ghana, the average lending rate stood at 30.25% in December 2024, after recording 30.07% and 30.45% in October 2024 and November 2024 respectively.
On key concern for businesses has been the high monetary policy rate which they believe has led to high cost of credit from the financial institutions.
This engagement will help address the misconceptions and provide clarity for the ordinary business enterprise.