Accra, Oct. 3, GNA - The Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ) on Friday expressed its condolence to the family of the late Finance and Economic Planning Minister, Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, who died in South Africa on September 24. A statement signed by Mr Lloyd Evans, President of IFEJ, said Mr Baah- Wiredu had been a keen supporter of the activities of financial journalists in Ghana and his demise is a great loss to the development and growth of financial journalism. "He was a proponent of good financial journalism and ensured that financial journalists were updated on developments in the ministry in relation to international obligations of the country." The statement said it was during his term as Finance Minister that he introduced the briefing of financial journalists on upcoming international conferences.

Some of the meetings he briefed IFEJ on prior to the events included the Consultative Group meetings with the World Bank and development partners as well as the most recent, the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness.

"Mr Baah-Wiredu never failed to respond to questions from financial journalists and even where the questions were not well framed he tried to de-mystify the thorny aspects so that journalists could put it in the right perspective."

The statement described the death of Mr Baah-Wiredu as a painful loss to IFEJ since he helped to make the coverage of government's financial policy better in the media. "Mr Baah-Wiredu' s affability and openness will forever be missed by IFEJ members and reporters at large as it will not be easy for any government to find another minister let alone finance minister as astute and transparent as the late finance minister, " it said. 3 Oct. 08