advantage of technological changes, innovations and provide a broader regulatory environment for competitive delivery of innovative payment solutions in the country. 9. the improvement in ghana ’ s digital payment systems are also supportive of online transactions aimed at financial inclusion. available data show significant progress in the deployment of electronic payments such as mobile money, payment cards, payment apps, direct debit and credit funds transfer, instant retail payments and virtual cards as alternatives to cash. in particular, mobile money transactions have grown by leaps and bounds. active mobile money accounts has jumped from in 345, 434 in 2010 to over 13 million subscribers with value of transactions of about gh¢223. 2 billion in 2018. 10. distinguished ladies and gentlemen, in spite of the digital revolution and rising use of electronic payments and digital currencies, we continue to see cash dominating transactions across several of our countries within the sub - saharan african region. undeniably, cash still remains the preferred medium of payment by the large informal sector, although trends are gradually shifting towards mobile money in ghana. thus, while making progress in financial inclusion by accelerating the migration to e - payment platforms, we are also mindful of the relevance of cash in our day - to - day dealings. this is why we must commit to the on - going currency feature enhancements and management of cash in circulation. page | 5 11. in this regard, the bank of ghana will continue to monitor the quality of substrates and features of the ghana cedi and take appropriate actions to make the cedi an all - time secured currency. special attention is being devoted to improve the features to make it more resilient to counterfeiting threats and facilitate data collection for cash life cycle analysis of the banknotes. the central bank will also conduct sustained currency awareness campaigns to educate the public on the proper handling of banknotes. 12. distinguished ladies and gentlemen, this seminar provides opportunities for participants to deliberate on currency management and operational issues. a cursory glance at the conference agenda indicates a very tight programme starting off with a closed door central bank workshop on substrate for banknote manufacturing. this would be followed by the plenary sessions on topics such as, ● ethical principles in central banks, ● crypto currencies – the real threats, challenges and future technologies, ● big data and the life cycle of the banknotes, ● the changing role of cits, ● cash handling and circulation models, and ● efficient co - existence of cash and digital payments 13. i can

mr mcdonough discusses the role of central banks in the global financial markets remarks by the president of the federal reserve bank of new york, mr william j. mcdonough, before the economic club of new york, new york city, on 14 / 12 / 98. good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i am delighted to be here tonight and to share the podium with my good friend dick grasso. dick and i have worked together for many years now, and i have come to value greatly both his warm friendship and his thoughtful counsel. dick has spoken eloquently about how equity markets have developed globally over the past several years and some of the concerns he has going forward. for my part, i will focus on the global debt markets and the interests of central banks in the stability of these markets. the role of central banks in the fixed - income and related capital markets may not be immediately obvious because, one can argue, debt markets are a zero - sum game. one side of a trade gains what the other loses. if only it were as easy as that! in fact, trading in the global debt markets serves an important purpose and it does not follow that central banks have no interest in the stability of these markets. quite the contrary. central banks are and should be deeply concerned about the functioning of these markets, their dependability, their liquidity, and their transparency. before explaining why i hold such a view, and therefore why we at the federal reserve were so concerned when these markets faltered this past summer, i would like to stand back for a few moments and highlight how the global capital markets have changed over the past several decades. no one doubts that there has been a sea change in the global capital markets in recent years and the ways business is transacted in these markets. these changes are, of course, rooted in the remarkable technological advances we have been witnessing. today, the technology for processing information and making this information widely available has fundamentally altered the way the world channels saving into investment. no longer does the global economy rely primarily on loans from commercial banks to meet its financing and investment needs. rather, more than ever before, the global economy of today looks to funds from the fixed - income and related capital markets to intermediate its credit needs. because the global capital markets have become so important in the credit intermediation process, the economic well - being of us all depends on the orderly flow of funds in these markets. the flow of these funds, in turn