of kuwait - public عام - بنك الكويت المركزي means the lockdown period spans a whole six months. as a result, many private sector companies are facing great liquidity and cashflow difficulties, causing financial solvency issues as severe as bankruptcy. and in view of the inter - connectedness of all economic sectors, the damage threatens to quickly reach even the most stable sectors. as shown by mobility data and business impact surveys, the number of visitors of retail outlets dropped by 75 %, with 45 % of all companies forced to suspend business or shutdown altogether, and many more to follow suit most probably in the future. meanwhile, 44 % of landlords also reduced rent as a result of the overall situation, while 64 % of those polled reported sentiments of fear, anxiety, and uncertainty. in general, forecasts suggest a drop in private sector revenue as high as 42 %, causing cashflow and liquidity difficulties for corporate bodies. this could cause an increase in default rates, and companies failing to pay would trigger high loan - related losses in the banking sector. companies are expected to need a total of kd 2. 4 - 3 billion to cover their working capital requirements ( such as salaries and rent payments ). it is also expected that the prolonged lockdown would bring about layoffs and increase unemployment in the private sector. amongst all nationals employed in the private sector, 86 % of them ( 62, 000 kuwaitis ) work in economic sectors negatively impacted by the crisis. furthermore, 79 % of non - nationals employed by the private sector ( 1. 3 million workers ) also work in affected sectors. closing these companies would disrupt supply chains and cause shortages in both the supply of basic goods and services. the drop in spending and the prevalent uncertainty will also deter future investments. any failure to take swift and unwavering action in response to working capital requirements would have grave economic repercussions on companies, particularly on small and medium enterprises ( smes ). the impact would continue to grow as the crisis persists, since the cash flow crunch would force companies – including those previously in a good liquidity position - to shut down for failure to secure financing ; either due to increasing financing costs or the banks ’ reluctance to finance amid fears of growing default risk during the crisis. this could lead to companies ’ bankruptcies, which, due to the chain effect between economic sectors could thus result in a contraction in non - oil

safe and sound banking sector to ensure effective financial intermediation for economic growth. key among the reforms was the increase in the minimum capital requirement of banks to gh¢400 million from gh¢120 million. the recapitalization ended on a solid note with a more consolidated banking sector as weaker and under - capitalised banks that posed risks to financial stability were removed. this has enhanced the efficiency and profitability of the remaining banks and helped restore confidence and resilience in the banking sector, with the banks now better positioned to support private sector - led growth in the ghanaian economy. 5. for the past two decades, the bank of ghana has taken steps to improve the payment systems infrastructure, alongside strengthening the regulatory page | 3 frameworks to support the expanding financial technology space. the overall objective is to broaden the scope of financial services access and deepen financial inclusion, while taking advantage of the increasing digital revolution in the financial sector. 6. in 2018, the bank of ghana, working with other stakeholders, successfully completed the mobile money interoperability ( mmi ) project which established an integrated and interoperable payments ecosystem. in this regard, all the three ( 3 ) key national payment pillars in ghana, namely ; mobile money, e - zwich and gh - link are now interoperable to facilitate seamless movement of funds across these systems. 7. globally, the rapid growth in technological advancement has transformed the payment landscape with far reaching impacts. with this global drive, the bank of ghana has taken full advantage of recent technological advances to promote a cash - lite economy within the context of the current existing digitization policy. these tie in with the government ’ s agenda to promote social inclusion drive for a more formalized economy through digitization and automation of business processes. the core part of the strategy is to first develop a national identification system that will facilitate efficient delivery of public and private services, including financial services, mobile banking, social safety nets, health insurance, and revenue collection, among others. 8. in collaboration with other stakeholders, the bank of ghana is working to change financial services delivery to support the emerging digital society. accordingly, the bank has revised the payment system act 2003 ( act 662 ) and the electronic money issuers and agents guidelines ( 2015 ) and page | 4 consolidated these into a draft payment systems and services bill, which will soon be passed by parliament. the purpose of consolidating the several pieces of legislature is to take