launch of the 75th anniversary celebration of the university of ghana theme : ‘ nurturing resilience : adopting technology, embracing humanism ’ remarks by mrs. elsie addo awadzi second deputy governor bank of ghana wednesday, 31st august 2022 great hall, university of ghana, legon chief of staff, office of the president, hon. akosua frema osei - opare minister for education, hon. dr. yaw osei adu twum chancellor of the university of ghana, mrs. mary chinery - hesse chairperson of the university of ghana council, justice sophia a. b. akuffo ( rtd ) members of the university council vice - chancellor of the university of ghana, prof. nana aba appiah amfo pro - vice chancellors of the university of ghana, prof. gordon akanzuwine awandare and prof. felix ankomah asante the registrar, mrs. emelia agyei - mensah faculty and staff of the university alumni students distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen 1. 32 years ago, when i arrived on this great campus as a shy and confused f. u. e. student ( as first year undergraduate students were then called ), the sheer privilege of the opportunity was not lost on me. more than three decades after, i can proudly say that my university of ghana experience ( what i will call “ the ug experience ” ) was transformational and has served me, my family, ghana, and the world, well. this is the story of many others who have been blessed with a ug education. 2. i am truly honoured and equally humbled to speak to you today for the launch of the 75th anniversary celebration of this great institution. 3. i believe that the year - long celebration leading to this important milestone in 2023 under the theme nurturing resilience : adopting technology, embracing humanism will provide the right setting to take stock, learn lessons, and look forward to the next 75 years. i will therefore focus my remarks today on the past, present, and future of our great university. 75 years as ghana ’ s premier university 4. over the past 75 years, the university of ghana has built a strong reputation as an academic institution of excellence, making it one of the preferred choices for academics, researchers, and students in africa and beyond. 5. it has made substantial contributions to the human resource needs of our nation, shaping the minds that have built our

reaction was to accommodate the shocks by providing subsidies on oil products, leading to large budget deficits partially financed by the central bank. clearly these developments signaled an economy in distress, underlying the urgency of implementing policies to reverse the trend and restore stability. 6. of the economic challenges, the continuing high inflation was particularly worrisome due to its impact on fixed income earners, savers, investors and the poor. rising inflation creates uncertainty in long - term decision - making, delaying investment decisions and distorting business plans. therefore inflation has fundamental implications for long - term employment and growth. 7. given the adverse economic conditions just described, the government had to take decisions to improve the business environment. as i just stated with respect to inflation, business decisions are taken with a higher degree of confidence and certainty under stable economic conditions. consequently, monetary policy had to be decisive in reducing uncertainty and turning the economy around towards stability. 8. mr. chairman, the primary mandate of the bank of ghana is to maintain price stability. to achieve price stability the bank has to manage the supply of money. in classical theory, the control of the money supply is the basis of monetary policy ; the process through which the monetary authority controls the cost of money or interest rates and supply of credit, thereby influencing inflation, exchange rates and employment levels. 9. interest rate adjustments influence inflation. rising interest rates reduces consumption and investment thereby dampening aggregate demand. a low interest rate environment results in the opposite effect, raising consumption and investment ; therefore aggregate demand. 10. now let me turn my attention to the role of fiscal policy on the effectiveness of monetary policy. to a large extent, the achievement of a stable interest rate and credit environment depends on the size of government borrowing ( the public sector borrowing requirements or psbr ) and how it is financed. the sources for financing government borrowing within the domestic economy are the public and the banking system ( whether or not including the central bank ). when financed such government borrowing “ crowds out ” the private sector from accessing capital. it is often said that for “ every cedi government borrows, the private sector has one cedi less ”. but more importantly, the effect of excessive borrowing is to raise the cost of money. 11. mr. chairman, the interest rate policy setting process at the bank of ghana is very extensive. the objective is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the state of the economy. 12. to do this, we assess developments in the external sector