in order to address the challenges accompanying these processes of economic adjustment and structural reform will be discussed tomorrow. given that the policy panel will consist of high - calibre policy - makers from both old and new member states and from eu institutions, one does not have to be a follower of the rational expectations hypothesis to anticipate a lively debate, be that on labour and product market reform ; on financial sector policies ; on monetary and fiscal policies ; or on exchange rate policy and the merits of erm ii membership. ladies and gentlemen, as i said at the beginning, this is the third time - the third time the ecb is organising a central banking conference. and i hope there is not only good luck in odd numbers. i also hope that our third conference will again offer a valuable forum to have intellectually stimulating debates, exchange insights, generate new ideas, and enhance the good contacts between central bankers and academia. judging by the experiences of the first two conferences, i have every reason to be confident. thank you very much for your attention.

to foreign exchange, the pillar 2 of the absa financial market index, is an important consideration for both bond and equity investors. these investors many times would like to repatriate coupon proceeds, sometimes principal repayments on matured bonds and dividends in hard currency. this is more so during periods of tighter global financing conditions. 11. it is therefore important to develop liquid, deep and efficient domestic interbank markets that can support these foreign investors to give them the required comfort to continue to invest in our markets. it is our view that a liquid interbank market can be well supported when the central bank has adequate foreign reserves. it is for this reason that the bank of ghana has in the past few years focused on building on our foreign reserve buffers to support our price stability mandate. 12. the capacity of local investors, pillar 4 of the absa africa financial market index is an important pillar which becomes more critical going forward. in ghana, we are beginning to realize the important role that institutional investors such as our pension funds, asset managers and insurance firms could play in not only financing part of government budget but also providing long - term funding for capital projects. this has become important as we seek to find the right balance between domestic and foreign sources of funding. 13. that said, there is more work to be done as we seek to develop the domestic market to enhance efficiency and create the needed market for capital. 13. let me, at this juncture, turn attention to how we can leverage on new technology and data sharing to improve efficiency and innovation on the african continent. presently, ghana is transitioning to a new kind of retail banking system where a large segment of the population previously unbanked, are being absorbed into the financial services sector, via, mobile money. to further expand access to financial services, the bank of ghana and government are initiating policies to further strengthen the financial and payment systems to foster smooth delivery of financial services and engender financial inclusion. some of these policies included agent registry, national identification exercise and digital property address system. let me share a few of the initiatives that are already in train : 14. developing an agency registry : agency network has become an important channel for delivering financial services at affordable cost. a digital agent registry is rolled out by the bank of ghana in collaboration with payment services providers to enhance identification and provide oversight of agent ’ s business. the registry focuses on mapping and capturing of data on all agent access points and facilitating customers ’ access