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.

the capital conservation buffer for banks from 3 percent to 1. 5 percent ; a reduction of the cash reserve requirement for banks from 10 percent to 8 percent ; a reduction of the 8 percent primary reserve ratio of savings and loans companies, finance house companies, and rural and community banks to 6 percent, and the 10 percent primary reserve ratio of micro finance companies to 8 percent. a reduction in provisioning for loans in the “ olem ” category from 10 percent to 5 percent for all banks and specialized deposit - taking institutions ( sdis ) ; preparedness to provide liquidity support to banks, savings and loans companies, and finance houses as needed and in strict compliance with statutory requirements, and to support the rural and community banks and microfinance sectors working with the arb apex bank ; loan repayments by customers of sdis which had been classified as “ past due ” for up to 30 days, were to be reclassified as “ current ” ; all mobile money users were permitted to send up to gh¢100 ( usd 18 ) for free ( excluding cash out ) to recipients on the same network or other networks through the interoperability platform ; mobile money subscribers were allowed to use their existing mobile phone registration details for on - boarding of minimum know your customer ( kyc ) account and daily and aggregate monthly transaction limits as well as mobile money wallet limits were increased ; and increased public education on mobile money and other electronic money fraud. 12. these measures have released a significant amount of liquidity to banks and sdis which they have passed on to their customers in the form of an interest loan reduction averaging 200 basis points, loan repayment moratoriums of three to twelve months, and new loans to businesses in sectors that are at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic. 13. the bank of ghana ’ s measures recognised the key role of smaller financial institutions in extending access to financial services to small businesses and lowincome households, several of whom had lost their businesses or jobs, making these financial institutions vulnerable given the heightened credit risk they bore. these measures have helped somewhat to reduce the burden on these institutions and their clients many of whom are female and young entrepreneurs. we have also seen a significant increase in the use of digital financial services during this pandemic, thanks to some of the measures we instituted. the government has also resorted to the use digital means of cash transfers to women and other groups under the livelihood empowerment against poverty programme using the biometric e -