Rwanda Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Insights from Twitter Interaction Networks and Public Engagements

Abstract

In the digital era, social media platforms have become essential tools for public engagement and institutional communication. Like many central banks, the National Bank of Rwanda actively uses X (formerly Twitter) to disseminate policy decisions and interact with the public. This study evaluates the public response to the Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Statements from March and September 2024 (MPFSS2024), consisting of 46,046 words, using advanced text mining techniques. We apply a hybrid methodology that integrates context-based textual analysis with FinBERT, NRC Lexicons, and the Loughran-McDonald dictionary to assess the complexity, readability, clarity, and thematic tone of policy documents, along with its associated public sentiment, perceptions and engagement on social media. The Multiobjective Optimisation on the basis of Ratio Analysis (MOORA) is employed to systematically evaluate and rank Twitter interaction network actors and their engagement levels, enabling an integration of conflicted multiple evaluation of social influence and interaction patterns. Undirected graph analysis reveals the alignment of sentiment, user influence, and engagement dynamics within #MPFSS2024 discussion. Our findings show that the readability of policy statements poses challenges to comprehension, while thematic tone significantly influences market perceptions and policy expectations. The hashtag #MPFSS2024 generated 429 tweets from 47 users, forming a network of 47 nodes and 351 unique engagement edges. The content analysis shows that the engagement peaked (63.9 percent) within the first three days after the announcement, particularly in the morning hours. Key influencers such as @CentralBankRw, @JeanClaudeGaga, and @mugarawintare played pivotal roles in sustaining interactive communication. The study concludes that clearer policy language enhances two-way engagement between the National Bank of Rwanda and its audiences. By providing a quantitative framework for analysing social media interactions, this research contributes to improved institutional communication strategies and advances the literature on central bank transparency and public trust.