The Bank of Ghana has established a 24-hour contact centre in a bid to improve public accountability and to enable the general public interact more with the Bank.
The call centre allows the public to lodge complaints, ask questions and make requests related to the Bank’s activities and receive prompt responses, Dr Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku, Governor of the Bank, told journalists at an end of year press luncheon and tour of the centre.
He said a technical team had been composed to provide backstopping functions at all times for the call centre, under the Bank’s new Communications Department.
“Over time, this platform will introduce an Interactive Voice Response system that will also have an in-built financial education session for the public,” he said.
Dr Issahaku commended the media for their support for the Bank in 2016, saying effective communication was required to ensure that the monetary policy transmission was not impaired, while inflation targeting also involved managing expectations to anchor inflation.
This, he said, could only be achieved with effective communication, thus it is the bank’s intention to be clear and open about its actions and operations.
“…the effectiveness of monetary policy has become more and more dependent on steering the expectations of future interest rate policy. And no other tool plays this role better than effectively communicating the policy decision and the considerable efforts made in arriving that decision.”
Dr Issahaku said the establishment of the Communications Department was to proactively support the mandate of the bank in ensuring price stability and ultimately contribute to economic growth.
He urged journalists to continue to work with the department by seeking information and feedback on the various aspects of the Bank’s operations.
The Communication Department of the Bank will roll out an awareness campaign on the contact centre and callers will be promptly answered by the trained staff. Issues beyond their expertise will be forwarded to the appropriate quarters and a response given back to the caller.
The contact centre number is 030 261 1733.
Source: GNA
