The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has ended a two-day training workshop for selected media practitioners, with a pledge to empower the media to tackle the growing misinformation and disinformation in the digital space.
Bernard Ato Otabil, the Director of Communications of the BoG, who gave the pledge, noted that misinformation and disinformation threatened the digital economy, hence the need to enlighten the media about emerging financial and economic issues to deepen their understanding.
The workshop held in Sunyani was attended by media practitioners drawn from the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions and, among other objectives, sought to sharpen their skills, build their capacities to better understand and report accurately on the economy.
Mr Otabil explained that training was in line with the central bank’s efforts in ensuring that the media accurately interpreted and reported on its monetary policy decisions and their implications.
He said: “The BoG has adopted an approach of engaging journalists to update their knowledge with vigorous training and dialogue on financial and economic issues to boost their understanding”.
That would accordingly position them to report on the operations of the bank and the economy, and reminded the media of their crucial role in shaping public opinions.
Mr Otabil urged them to work to improve their understanding on the complexities involved in monetary policy formulation in the fast-growing digital economy.
“The primary mandate of the BoG in maintaining stability in the general level of prices is not understood by many because we normally don’t speak the language of monetary policy”, he noted.
Mr Abdulai Lawal Abubakari, the Bono Regional Manager of the BoG, said the bank recognised the media’s essential role in shaping public discourses and holding public office holders accountable.
He urged the media to back and utilise the knowledge they had acquired to bring positive change by well informing the public on the monetary policy of the bank.
The participants were taken through topics like the mandate and regulatory role of the BoG, its monetary policy committee statements, and submissions as well as inflation dynamics, foreign exchange market, data pack and the balance sheet.
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