Dr Ernest Addison
The monetary policy committee of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) has maintained the policy rate at 30%.
In July, the MPC raised the policy rate by 50 basis points to 30%. The policy rate indicates the interest rate at which the central bank lends to commercial banks in Ghana.
The decision was taken after the committee reviewed the current economic situation as the rate of inflation for August 2023 declined to 40.1%.
Speaking at a media briefing in Accra on Monday (25 September), governor of BoG Dr Ernest Addison attributed the committee’s decision to continuous disinflation.
“On inflation dynamics, the continued maintenance of the tight monetary policy stance and relative exchange rate stability have contributed significantly to the disinflation process observed in the year thus far, headline inflation has declined recorded by a cumulative 14% since the peak of 54.1 % recorded in December 2022.
“Non-food inflation has also declined sharply by close to 20%, broadly reflecting the effectiveness of monetary policy, all core inflation measures monitored by the Central Bank are trending downwards indicating continuous easing of underlying inflation pressures.”
“… Given these considerations, the committee decided to maintain the policy rate at 30%, the committee further indicated that, whiles the expectation is for continued disinflation, it stands ready to respond appropriately should inflation deviate from this broad expectation,” Addison said.
Listen to Dr Ernest Addison in the attached audio clip below:
By Fred Dzakpata
