Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari is first Deputy BoG Governor
The first deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Maxwell Opoku Afari, has warned against the publication of fake economic news in the country.
According to him, the times Ghana finds itself in are crucial thus the spread of information that negatively projects the country’s situation has a dire effect on its financial stability.
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In a speech read on his behalf by the Director of Research at the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Philip Abradu-Otoo, on August 26, 2022, he emphasized the role of the financial and business journalist in sustaining economic recovery through confidence building.
“It is generally acknowledged that the behavior of economic agents is influenced by the economic and financial environment, which is largely shaped by the media. The media’s role in influencing the economic narrative is even more important during periods of heightened uncertainty when all kinds of news including fake news are rife on social media, even at times within mainstream media.
“The spread of such misinformation has the potential to jolt financial markets and create panic among the general public with dire implications for financial stability. Under such instances, business and financial journalists have additional responsibilities to help financial market participants and the general public to draw a clear distinction between facts and fiction and decide the newsworthiness of the information at hand for accurate reportage, a crucial ingredient for confidence building,” he added.
He added that when the exact picture on the ground is highlighted by the media it influences the decisions of policymakers.
“Transparency is possible when the media accurately and in the right language informs and educate the public about the exact nature of developments in the economy as well as the real implications of actions taken by policymakers,” he added.
The training workshop held under the theme, “Sustaining the recovery: The role of the journalist in building confidence” was aimed at equipping journalists with a better understanding of issues including Monetary Policy formulation and Inflation Targeting, Forex Trading, and the Foreign Exchange Market, balance of payments and the Bank's eCedi.
Dr. Maxwell Opoku-Afari is first Deputy BoG Governor
