By Nelson Manneh
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), on Wednesday February 20th 2019 instigated the training of journalist on Economic and financial reporting.
The training which took place at the UN house in Bakau, brought together twenty-three journalists from five West African English speaking countries, to be equipped with the relevant accuracy, interview techniques, and role of Central Banks, and on ethics required in Economic and financial reporting, just to name a few.
Speaking shortly before the training, Mamburay Njie the Minister of Finance said journalist have a pivotal role to play in modern society, and that this goes beyond their traditional roles of news dissemination. “The role of the media in society is key, but it is also of paramount importance to recognize that economic and financial reporting have a particular role to play,” he said; that in recognizing the important role played by journalist, it is imperative that they are further equipped on the job, and impart the skills and knowledge needed to get the job done.
“If we want citizens to adhere to and support the policies that we as policymakers formulate, we must ensure that these policies are well-articulated and explained to them, using simple terms that are easily understood by the public at large,” he concluded.
Essa A.K Drammeh the second Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, commends IMF for equipping journalist from different nationalities with the necessary skills, to enhance their job in economic and financial reporting; that the participants are expected to write good reports when it comes to economic and financial matters.
Drammeh explained to participants, the role of the Central Bank as it is in the Gambia; that the Central Bank serves as the Bank for all Commercial Banks in the country, serves as a clearing house for the other Banks, and controls the fluctuation of foreign currency, just to name a few.
He urge participants to be ready to share with others who were not privileged to be among them, so that they can also benefit from the training.
