industry, which can aspire to promote solvency and innovation in the operation of all societies. the societies, which are now operating do not compete with each other as they have been set up to serve specific interest groups. they have therefore the opportunity within them to talk to each other and to be able to resolve very simple administrative matters, which could be commonly faced by them. i have come across different societies, which have turned to the regulator for solutions to very similar questions and situations. while these societies are not discouraged to do so, it would be preferable that they first share their experiences and problems amongst themselves to find solutions. there is potential for the movement to grow and offer the services the members need. corporate governance and the requirement to ensure ‘ fit and proper ’ persons hold the positions on the board and management cannot be emphasized enough. it should be a challenge for every society, and more importantly every member, to ensure that credible people get to hold those responsible positions. as part of enforcing good corporate governance, the bpng established the industry code of conduct thus requiring all directors and management to sign up before assuming responsibilities. furthermore the bank instituted ‘ fit and proper ’ requirements to ensure all directors undergo these tests before taking up their roles. as part of this initiative they need to undergo certain training courses conducted by the federation of savings and loans societies and bpng. good corporate governance is the key to enhancing strong reporting system, efficient internal controls and risk management systems. good governance is synonymous to an effective compliance culture. this should be the dream of all societies to achieve. we need to move from the dreaming stage, to the belonging stage and finally to the achieving stage. i hope the federation ’ s strategic planning workshop would deal with and address the issues i have raised. it is important that we all work together to ensure that the savings and loan industry achieve its full potential for the benefit of its members. with these remarks, i would like to thank the organisers of the credit union day celebrations. i now declare the strategic planning workshop of the federation of savings and loan societies limited open. thank you!

paul a acquah : workshop on the general data dissemination systems ( gdds ) opening address by dr paul a acquah, governor of the bank of ghana, at the workshop on the general data dissemination systems ( gdds ), accra, 17 august 2005. * * * mr. chairman, distinguished stakeholders, ladies and gentlemen, i deem it an honour and at the same time necessary to be part of this important workshop and i appreciate the opportunity to give the opening address. you would agree with me that the appetite for statistics and other information on the economy has increased considerably in this country and that users have become more resourceful in the analysis and use of data. this growing interest has been motivated by a desire to make assessments of how far we are from our national objectives, be they on growth, inflation, income distribution and incidence of extreme poverty or how distant or close we are to the millennium development goals. all this requires a robust and responsive statistical system to monitor developments and to allow policy changes to meet changing demands. mr. chairman, statistics do not only serve national purposes but they have global implications and it is a significant development that ghana has become part of the gdds platform. the gdds requires a good set of principles for routine data dissemination. adherence to its guidelines should enhance the usefulness of the data and provide users with valuable information to plan their work and programs. it also serves as a yardstick by which ghana can judge its performance in the field of statistics. one important outcome of the gdds platform is the collaboration with other statistical providers, and the fostering of a network among institutions. ghana ’ s adherence to the gdds should ultimately lead us to a strengthened statistical system. i am very sure we all agree on the usefulness of data and there would be no need to run you through that. however, we should acknowledge that good statistics as collected according to agreed international best practices, using appropriate methods for data collection, processing and dissemination are crucial as a tool for national development. accurate and timely data would allow us to formulate sound policies, effectively compare our progress over time and space and also set benchmarks for measuring progress in the future. ladies and gentlemen, it is however of paramount importance that the data generation process is thoroughly understood so that the appropriate interpretations could be made. economic statistics are often only an approximation of the underlying reality they are attempting to measure. even where the data can be perfectly measured there is often disc