john a rolle : " get money smart bahamas " remarks by mr john a rolle, governor of the central bank of the bahamas, at the launch of the get money smart bahamas financial literacy campaign launch, nassau, 1 may 2018. * * * the central bank of the bahamas is pleased to announce the launch of its national financial literacy campaign, “ get money smart bahamas, ” with the participation of the clearing banks association of the bahamas. after a competitive search, we engaged the partnership of colina financial advisors ( cfal ) ltd and blue orchids to help with the formulation and execution of the campaign. cfal brings its financial management expertise and literacy promotion experience to the campaign. blue orchid bahamas is providing creative direction and strategic communications support. the central bank recognizes the need to educate consumers more on personal finances, financial products and the economy, especially in the context of increasingly vocal concerns about the cost of banking services, and the ease of access to banking services. the bank believes that literacy is an empowering and critical line of defense for consumer financial protection. we want the users of financial products and services to ask the right questions about the services that they receive, to understand their legal rights, to be empowered to make responsible choices around savings and borrowing and to conduct their affairs safely and securely in a digital world. since this campaign was conceived, we have benefited from the results on domestic financial literacy from a national survey, which the bank sponsored through public domain. some of the highlights that are soon to be published are as follows : although many bahamians have access to savings accounts, most persons are not using them to accumulate funds ; rather, they are just serving the basic purpose of storing money that would be spent almost immediately. more consumer education is needed around how interest rates aid our ability to build up savings over the longer - term ; and much more education is needed around personal debt management. the goal of this campaign is to equip bahamians of all ages and socio - economic backgrounds with the knowledge and confidence they need to make sound financial decisions. we especially want to encourage a strong culture of personal savings and reinvesting. this ties into the shared national goal of keeping the value of the bahamian dollar on par with the us dollar, because it translates into more prudent use of the foreign currency that the bahamas earns. this campaign will have a special segment on banking products and services to help the public learn more about how to borrow and use credit wisely.

banks might participate directly in bahamian dollar payments and settlements, to facilitate their own local needs or those of clients who maintain a nexus to the local economy. project sand dollar highlights through project sand dollar, the central bank will develop and pilot a general purpose, digital version of the bahamian dollar — that is, with both wholesale and retail applications. as the draft central bank bill anticipates, the bank would have statutory authority to issue currency in digital form and to develop regulations to govern the instrument. the pilot would allow the bank to enhance the digital system before it is deployed nationally. to stay focused on the challenges that an archipelago poses, and to tackle gaps in access to services in remote communities, exuma has been identified as the pilot community. the bank will also explore how to enlist other selected islands that have suppressed or no banking presence. the digital representation of the b $ will be identical to, and not a separate version of the currency. it will align with all of the statutory rules that govern existing liabilities of the central bank ; always exchanged at one for one with existing notes, coins and balances. the design will also incorporate best international practices around aml and cft risks. anonymity is not a feature. this framework will rely intimately on the national identify infrastructure, when permitting users to hold and exchange digital money. a t the onset, it will use kyc and identity features incorporated into the system design, and adopt the wider public identity system as it becomes available. a blockchain infrastructure has been proposed for the digital currency, with performance capabilities that would adequately satisfy the central bank ’ s requirements for swift processing of payments. this would not impose any change on the current ownership of the ach, which is by the commercial banks. 4 | page there will be an extensive public education process for all stakeholders potentially impacted by this transformation. also, from the outset, this project will engage with banks and other payment services providers, so that interoperability standards can be perfected. design features of a digital currency there are important design features of a digital b $ that are intended to reflect the central bank ’ s role as a sponsor of financial sector development. this is essentially a public good that is being provided. geographic fragmentation cannot assure that the private sector, acting alone, would achieve the level of inclusion and access which all communities in the bahamas deserve. 10 this instrument is intended to complement and not replace existing banking services. its use will be optimised when