Recent global shocks require Central Banks in Africa to coordinate monetary policy measures—Addison

The Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) Dr. Ernest Addison has emphasised the need for Central Banks in Sub-Saharan Africa to coordinate monetary policy measures, aimed to help stabilise prices on the African continent.

According to him, the impact of recent geopolitical tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic on developing countries underscore the need for increased harmonisation of monetary policy tools to withstand global shock.

Dr. Addison spoke at the Financial Stability Board Meeting of the Regional Consultative Group for Sub Saharan Africa in Accra.

He observed that the inflation rates across countries in sub-Saharan Africa stress the need for to African countries to work together in other to control price levels between countries.

He maintained that such a move will enhance trade among African countries, reducing Africa’s dependency on imports outside the continent.

“The war in Ukraine has triggered a costly humanitarian and economic crisis. Global spill overs from the conflict is contributing adversely to sustaining the recent recovery in global growth. It has already aggravated inflationary pressures especially for fuel and food, and this elevated inflation will complicate the tradeoffs that central banks face,” he said.

He was of the view that a lack of collaboration in fighting food inflation will derail individual gains made by countries on the continent.

By this, Dr. Addison, advocated for a collective approach to fighting food inflation since African countries are interdependent on food supply.

On his part, the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank Lesetja Kganyago stressed that African countries must immediately work together to bring inflation down on the continent.

“Now in Africa, three things are the most important thing to central banks. Number one is inflation, number two is inflation, and number three is inflation. Our business is to stabilize prices to improve the living conditions of Africans,” he said.

Source: Myjoyonline