to inform you that at the recent annual global policy forum of the alliance for financial inclusion ( afi ) held in september 2018 at sochi russia, ghana won three ( 3 ) of the eight ( 8 ) awards, including the technology award in recognition of the interoperability project. as a result of these laudable achievements, we have hosted a number of visitors from central banks on the african continent to understudy the project design and implementation, with more visits scheduled for next year. 6. his excellency, ladies and gentlemen, with the completion of the second phase of the interoperability project, ghana has now achieved its objective of establishing an integrated and interoperable payments ecosystem. all the three ( 3 ) key national payment circuits, namely ; mobile money, e - zwich and gh - link are now interoperable, enabling seamless movement of funds across these systems. 7. as we develop a digital financial ecosystem, the integrity of the service delivery channels becomes paramount. transmission channels for electronic payments should guarantee security of transactions. this can be achieved through adherence to international best practices and standards in the acquisition, deployment and management of channels. consequently, the bank of ghana has drafted guidelines on operations of electronic payment channels which will provide a framework for management of an efficient and secure transmission of electronic transactions across various payment channels. we also must bear in mind issues regarding cyber security during electronic transfers and ensure that the proper structures and systems are in place to handle such threats. 8. with the implementation of the second phase of this infrastructure, payment service providers would have the opportunity to scale up access to financial services through digital channels. however, a strict financially inclusive society must ensure that financial products are accessible to meet the needs of different categories of customers. 9. currently, most of the digital financial products available in the ghanaian ecosystem are in the category of savings, payments, investments and insurance. credit products receive less attention thereby limiting the capacity of the unbanked and underserved to borrow for economic activities. a deliberate and concerted effort to develop an electronic credit market is therefore necessary to promote financial inclusiveness. 10. in this regard, the bank is working with financial sector deepening ( fsd ) africa to implement a credit market diagnostic project. the project will assist in identifying constraints to credit delivery and propose measures to overcome them. this will complement efforts towards expanding the scope of financial access to both the banked and unbanked in society. 11. his excellency

. it is important that the costs of these interventions which were borne by taxpayers, are recovered to the extent possible through recoveries from debtors, shareholders, and related and connected parties who took money from the defunct banks. the receivership processes are ongoing, and the receivers are making great strides in their recovery efforts. amounts in excess of 400 million cedis have so far been recovered by the receivers of the 2 banks closed last year. dossiers on all seven banks have been handed over to eoco for investigations and possible prosecutions by relevant state agencies. q. bog ’ s own internal investigations into the conduct of bank of ghana officials have begun with the establishment of the office of ethics and internal investigations. any officials ( current and former ) found culpable will neither be spared nor shielded by management. any lessons so far? trust and confidence in the financial system are critical. as the saying goes, trust comes on foot and leaves on horseback! all parties must work towards preserving the trust that customers repose in them. q. what about the specialised deposit - taking institutions sector? there are signs of distress with some institutions not paying depositor claims. is bog planning to act against these institutions? if so, how soon? what are the estimated clean - up costs? bog continues to assess the condition of the sdi sector. institutions that do not meet prudential requirements will be closed. bog will ensure that any such action is managed carefully to mitigate any potentially adverse socio - economic impacts. q. what is next for bog? we are working with all stakeholders to rebuild confidence in our banking sector. there are great opportunities ahead for the industry to drive ghana ’ s economic growth agenda, and we expect to see banks positioning themselves for these opportunities. following the new regulatory requirements we have introduced, we expect to see better capitalized banks, more transparency in the quality of assets held by banks, stronger corporate governance and risk management practices, and a new focus on maintaining the confidence of customers. on our part, we are strengthening our regulatory and supervisory capacity through improved systems, processes, accountability, and training, to enable our supervision staff better monitor banks ’ performance and conduct, and ensure that banks take prompt corrective action to address emerging risks. we are moving ahead with implementation of the deposit protection scheme established under the ghana deposit protection act, 2016 ( act 931 ) as amended, to provide a safety net for vulnerable depositors in the event of a bank failure. q. what should