Economist ‘exposes’ ignorance in Adongo’s ‘rude’ letter to BoG Governor

Dr. Robert Owusu-Gyekyi, an economist and banker has vehemently criticized the Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central and Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament, Isaac Adongo, for ‘rudely’ writing to the Governor of Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison.

What is worse, according to Dr. Owusu-Gyekyi is Mr. Adongo’s display of ignorance about the issues he sought to draw the Governor’s attention to.

In a piece countering Adongo’s open letter, Owusu-Gyekyi expressed surprise over the legislator’s action.

“First as a member of parliament, you should know that there are standard processes and procedures for demanding information or clarification from the central bank, that is, if the locus is there at all,” he said. “Clearly, this does not include writing open and rude letters to the Governor and publishing it widely on social media.

“Second, I am very disappointed with the tone and the inherent rudeness of your letter, which should not be part of the job description of an “honourable” Member of Parliament. You should know by now that monetary policy is not conducted on social media. Next time, I will advise you to go through your parliamentary processes to make any official requests and be civilized about how you go about it.”

Adongo had in the letter accused Dr. Addison of concealing economic data in order to “deceive investors and players in Ghana’s financial markets”.

He claimed he was ignored by Addison when he requested some information to assist him with his work on the banking sector in 2018.

Among other things, the lawmaker cautioned that the “continuous manipulation of the Policy Rate that is not consistent with the fundamentals of the economy and concealing of critical economic data will further worsen the credibility crisis of BoG and derail any efforts at attracting badly needed investments into the country.”

But Owusu-Gyekyi argues that Adongo’s assertion is a clear indication he is not enlightened on the subject.

He says: “Monetary Policy Rate decisions are made by the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Ghana. To refresh your memory, that is, if there is anything to refresh at all, Ghana was one of the first sub-Saharan African country, other than South Africa, to set up an MPC process and also introduce the Inflation Targeting framework under the NPP regime; and the credibility of the framework was well established long before you found your way into parliament. The MPC publishes details of its review of the economy and the reasons for its policy decision. I will encourage you to start reading them. It will help in correcting your distorted view of developments in the economy.”

Below are Adongo’s open letter and Owusu-Gyekyi’s response