Don’t starve the public of vital information on the economy

The Issue

Since May 2015, the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Monetary Policy Committee’s press releases have been very brief and without some vital information. The committee’s comments on the country’s economic growth, fiscal performance, and developments in the external sector have been truncated to the point of rendering the press releases not too useful.

The most worrisome aspect of this development is the complete omission of information on the country’s debt situation since May 2015 in spite of the fact that the BoG is the institution that actually borrows from the domestic market through the sale of Treasury Bills on behalf of the government. Even on the broader fiscal issue, very scanty information is contained in the last four of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee press releases.

Context

According to subsection 3(1) of the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 612), the primary objective of the bank is to maintain stability in