The Bank of Ghana has indicated its readiness to respond appropriately to inflation should consumer prices go up in the coming months.

Speaking at the opening of a regional course organised by the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management with support from the International Monetary Fund, Director of Research, Dr. Philip Abradu-Otoo, underscored the importance of monetary policy in managing economic fluctuations with the view of achieving price stability.

According to him, the Central Bank is ready to respond appropriately should inflation rise.

“Because of the current global and domestic macro-economic developments, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana decided to maintain the policy rate 30.0% at its recent meeting on 25th September [2023]. The committee assured that while the expectation is for continued disinflation, it stands ready to respond appropriately should inflation deviate from these broad expectations”.

Inflation for September 2023 stood at 38.1%, after falling consecutively for two months running.

Dr. Abradu-Otoo said the implementation of monetary policy, various monetary anchors ranging from money growth targets, exchange rate targeting and inflation targeting have been heavily adopted by most West African economies.

Director General of West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, Dr. Baba Musa told Joy Business, the workshop could not have come at a better time than this when most economies in the sub-region are grappling with price stability.

“Because of the multi-dimensional challenges facing some economies, in our sub-region, monetary policy should focus on deploying a mix of appropriate instruments to deliver price stability, exchange rate, financial stability and economic growth”. 

The regional course is hoping to reshape and deepen intellectual discourse while upholding the effort at achieving monetary policy harmonization within the West African sub-region.