BOG Announces New Policy Rate Today

By Cecil MENSAH

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) will today announce its decision on the policy rate and further review of the economy.

The follows the conclusion of the 76th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the BoG, which started last Friday, May 19, 2017 in Accra.

Monetary policy is the process by which the central bank controls the supply of money, often targeting an inflation rate or interest rate to ensure price stability and general trust in the currency of the country.

The MPC meeting is the first to be chaired by Dr. Ernest Kwamina Yedu Addison since he assumed office last month as the new Governor of the Central bank after the surprise resignation of his predecessor Dr. Abdul Nassiru Issahaku.

The MPC is made up of six other members namely Mr. Millison Narh, First Deputy Governor, Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, Second Deputy Governor, Dr. Benjamin Amoah, Head of Research, Evelyn Kwatia, Head of Financial Markets, Dr. John Kwakye, External Member, and Prof. Joshua Yindenaba Abor, External Member.

A release signed by Bernard Otabil, Head of Communications Department at the central bank, announcing a press conference to be held today to announce the new policy rate said a decision on the appropriate position of the bank's policy rate and other sectors of the economy will be announced at the conference.

The last MPC of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) significantly reduced key lending to commercial banks, the biggest cut in rate in almost 10 years.

The Committee dropped the policy rate by 200 basis points to 23.5 percent.

The then Governor of the Central Bank, Dr. Abdul Nashiru Issahaku, cited favourable economic outlook for the reduction.

He included factors like declining inflation rate and stabilizing cedi as the reason for this development, adding he was hopeful it would help boost lending and stimulate growth.

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