New BoG governor must maintain independence and resist government pressure – Economist

Renowned economist, Professor Patrick Asuming, has urged the newly appointed Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Johnson Asiama, to take a strong and independent approach in managing the country’s monetary policy.

He emphasized the importance of resisting undue government influence, particularly in preventing the excessive printing of money to finance fiscal deficits—a practice that has previously led to economic instability.

In an interview with Citi Business News, Professor Asuming also stressed the need for decisive measures to tackle the country’s persistent food inflation.

“I think we shouldn’t expect too much by way of thinking that the new governor has a magic wand that he can wave to bring inflation down. I think the current inflation that we are seeing is a little more entrenched and it’s more domestic, and you get the sense that it is not as easy as raising the policy rate because it doesn’t seem like there’s much liquidity as much as cost of production that seems to be driving it,” he stated.

He further called for closer collaboration between the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana to implement effective fiscal policies.

“That will require collaboration between the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Ghana on the fiscal policy side. So I just hope that he’s going to be strong and firm, stand up to and be firm especially when dealing with the government, and make sure that the kind of money printing we have seen in the past doesn’t happen,” he added.

Ghana’s Inflation Trends

Professor Asuming’s remarks come at a time when Ghana’s inflation rate has eased to 23.5% in January 2025, following four consecutive months of rising inflation.

However, food inflation remains a major concern, climbing from 27.8% in December 2024 to 28.3% in January 2025. On the other hand, non-food inflation continued its downward trend, dropping from 20.3% in December to 19.2% in January.

Source: Dailymailgh