Deputy Secretary-General of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Dr. Kwabena Otoo, has called for a shift in Ghana’s economic policy framework beyond its current focus on inflation targeting, arguing that it limits efforts to address unemployment and drive inclusive growth.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Point of View on Wednesday, April 29, he noted that Ghana’s monetary policy has largely been anchored on price stability, with the Bank of Ghana primarily relying on interest rate adjustments as its key tool for managing the economy.
Dr. Otoo argued that this approach underplays the importance of employment creation and broader development outcomes in economic decision-making.
According to him, other countries have expanded the mandate of their central banks to include job creation alongside inflation control, allowing for a more balanced policy approach.
He cited examples such as New Zealand and the United States, where employment has been incorporated into central banking objectives through policy reforms.
Dr. Otoo stressed that Ghana must rethink its policy framework to ensure that job creation becomes a central objective of economic management, alongside price stability.
He warned that without such a shift, economic policy risks remaining disconnected from the country’s employment challenges.
“The only instrument we know the Bank of Ghana has is interest rate. Basically, inflation targeting, and that’s what they do. That means also that the Bank of Ghana Act must change. You see, this inflation targeting started with the Federal Reserve Bank of New Zealand, where the sole mandate was inflation or price stability.
“In 2019, they amended their act and made employment generation, in addition to price stability, a second major priority for the Central Bank of New Zealand. The U.S. followed, and other countries also followed. So the policy framework must change,” he said.
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