BoG moves MPC meeting a week earlier than advertised
Government cuts 20% of 2022 budget expenditure
The Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee has rescheduled the commencement of its second meeting of the year to review economic developments in the country.
The 105th MPC meeting of the central bank was earlier set for March 23 to March 25 but has now been rescheduled a week earlier from Wednesday, March 16 to March 18, 2022.
A statement issued by the Bank however did not specifically state the reason for its decision.
“The press conference will be held on Monday March 21, 2022” the central bank said.
The 105th meeting of the Committee is expected to entail the initiation of proposals for the formulation of the central banks’ policies, provision of statistical data and economic advice.
Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, who is also Chairperson of the Monetary Policy Committee, is expected to make decisions that will influence the cost of credit in the country for the next three months of the year.
Meanwhile, at the central bank's 104th MPC meeting, it kept is monetary policy rate unchanged at 14.5 percent.
Explaining the rationale behind its earlier decision, the BoG Governor, Dr Ernest Addison in a statement outlined key risks to inflation and decisive implementation of fiscal correction measures as its reasons.
“The key risks to the inflation outlook include: rising crude oil prices and its transmission to ex-pump petroleum prices and transportation costs, rising global inflation, food price uncertainties, and the fiscal outlook. The Monetary Policy Committee envisaged this scenario when it raised the policy rate in November 2021 to contain the inherent aggregate demand pressures likely to drive prices in the outlook,” portions of the statement read.
“The Committee is of the view that the dynamics associated with the November 2021 policy rate hike are yet to be fully transmitted and expects the decisive implementation of the fiscal correction measures, especially the 20 percent cut in expenditure to help moderate the upside risks to the inflation outlook,” the Governor explained.
Dr Ernest Addison however said that the central bank's Committee will continue to monitor the impact of these policy measures and will, when necessary, call an extraordinary meeting to re-assess the inflation outlook over the forecast horizon and take the necessary policy decisions accordingly.
The monetary policy rate is of keen interest to businesses and the private sector as it influences the interest rate on loans and determines the rate at which the central bank lends to commercial banks.
The Bank of Ghana Headquarters