. for that to happen, economies have to perform better. what we see in france is in fact going in that direction. there is a reform momentum which i think has two dividends : one for the french economy itself and one for the euro area. france is a very large country, the second - largest country in the euro area. the euro area needs reforms and having a strong french economy is also something that can set off a series of dialogues, a series of reforms right across the euro area. france is now taking the path of that reform momentum and growth momentum? yes, but i don ’ t want to judge the ways and means of the french government, or the sequence of reforms. no, but as for the priorities set, labour law, public sector, then pensions, is it roughly what you recommend? labour law, the functioning of the labour market, of course, including training, which is essential. in that respect, the good news is that the government is vigorously tackling the reform of vocational training. this is just as important, if not more so, than the flexibility of the labour market and labour costs. for a very long time, emphasis was placed on the cost of labour in france. i don ’ t think now that the cost of labour is a major obstacle compared with germany, compared with france ’ s competitors. however, we do have a training problem which shows up in all the international surveys, and it is increasingly the priority. and the government is working on it. there ’ s been talk of a “ budgetary jackpot ” this weekend, how do you regard that? what are your comments? it ’ s a slightly ridiculous discussion ; i spent 15 years at the ministry of finance in a previous life. whenever france ’ s deficit goes below 3 %, there are some good souls who speak of a jackpot. if you listen to them, it means that 3 % will not be the upper limit of the deficit in france, it will be the lower limit ; it means that the deficit will never go below 3 %. government debt is 97 % of gdp. if our deficit remains at 3 %, it is clear that we are heading towards serious debt sustainability problems. so we shouldn ’ t listen to those good people who think that there is a jackpot when the deficit is a fraction below 3 %. it is a bit like giving an alcoholic sweet to a former alcoholic, so to speak, it seems to me a little dangerous. and

switch card and mobile money interoperability platform. the increasing use of digital financial services help to accelerate the rate of financial inclusion, and to close the gender gap in access to finance. 14. while the economic outlook remains unclear, our financial system is relatively strong following reforms carried out in the last three years, and is positioned to continue to play a key role in supporting economic recovery going forward, and helping to promote financial inclusion and in particular to reduce the gender gap. 15. the recent launch by the ghana government of the national financial inclusion and development strategy, the digital financial services strategy, and the cash - lite policy, is intended to improve access to financial services from 58 % in 2015 to 85 % by 2023 through increased digital financial services that will help promote economic empowerment of the poor and marginalized. as one of the implementing agencies under these policy initiatives, the bank of ghana will continue to use its policy and regulatory tools to promote safety and soundness of banks and sdis and digital financial services to the benefit of all economic actors. 16. the bank of ghana remains committed to delivering on our commitments under afi ’ s maya declaration, denarau action plan, and kigali statement, and in keeping with our role as an afi gender inclusion ambassador, we will continue to make progress on promoting a gender - inclusive financial services ecosystem, and promoting sustainable finance. building on our existing sex - disaggregated data collection portal for mobile money services, we are developing a more comprehensive disaggregated reporting regime for all our regulated institutions through a new online regulatory and analytics surveillance system to be fully operational by the end of the year, to help shape more gender - specific policy and regulatory measures going forward. 17. as we look ahead and armed with lessons from the past, let us explore the opportunities that the current pandemic presents to us as policy makers and regulators in the afi network, and let us identify ways in which we can adopt new approaches to addressing the gender gap in access to finance. this is not the time to leave any one behind, and we must begin to be more intentional about bridging the financial inclusion gap and the disparities that exist from a gender perspective. this is critical to making progress in our inclusive socio - economic growth and development aspirations. fortunately, this webinar and the lineup of speakers and discussions, promises to help in that direction. i wish us all fruitful deliberations. thank you for your attention.