Newly appointed Government Statistician, Dr Alhassan Iddrisu, has pledged to transform Ghana’s data ecosystem into a robust pillar of national development, promising to provide accurate, timely, and relevant statistics to support government initiatives and policy direction.
Speaking during his swearing-in ceremony at the Jubilee House on Friday, May 2, Dr Iddrisu assured President John Dramani Mahama of the Ghana Statistical Service’s (GSS) unwavering commitment to backing the administration’s economic recovery and growth plans with credible data.
“We are committed to delivering credible, timely, and relevant data to support our macroeconomic stabilization programme and our socioeconomic development agenda, including flagship initiatives such as the 24-hour economic policy, the agriculture for transformation agenda, the Adwumawura programme, the national apprenticeship programme, the national coders programme, and the anti-corruption drive,” Dr Iddrisu stated.
He added that beyond tracking existing programmes, the Service will adopt a proactive approach in anticipating the data demands of a rapidly changing economy and a forward-looking population.
Dr Iddrisu outlined several new statistical initiatives, including reforms to the way inflation data is reported. “Currently, inflation data ends at the regional level. We plan to extend this to the district level to support the government’s decentralisation agenda and inform more localized inflation policy,” he noted.
He also disclosed plans to generate Consumer Price Index (CPI) and inflation data disaggregated by rural and urban areas, providing a more nuanced understanding of inflation’s impact across the country.
Addressing Ghana’s GDP reporting, the new Statistician announced steps toward refining national economic measurements. “Your Excellency, with regard to economic activities, we will fast-track the rebasing of GDP data to ensure our statistics are more accurate and relevant.
“We will advocate for the institutionalisation of GDP rebasing every five years to align with global standards and maintain the relevance of our economic data.”