enabling regulatory regime for digital payments. 11. for all intents and purposes, the act seeks to promote innovation in the design and delivery of payment products and services by widening the scope of the payments industry to fintechs and engendering competition. it is expected that fintechs ’ innovations will deliver products that meet the needs of all stakeholders, whether banked or unbanked and underserved, to attract them into the digital payment space. also, a proportionate regulatory regime has been adopted to promote fairness in regulation and accommodate different payment service providers. 12. the quest for cashless payments is gradually shifting consumer interfaces from the manual environment to cyber space. alongside this transition, there has also been an increased spate of complex cyber security threats which is posing risks to the cashless agenda. the bank of ghana has therefore issued a cyber - security directive for compliance by banks and payment service providers to build a robust and resilient digital ecosystem. to further accelerate the digitisation process, stakeholders must work collectively to promote merchant acceptance of digitised financial products and services, with particular emphasis on lowertier merchants, such as small and micro - enterprises. 13. the next key area is enhancing public confidence. despite the successes achieved so far, some consumers still lack awareness and confidence in electronic payments. in this direction, the various stakeholders are undertaking continued consumer education and financial literacy to build confidence and help in fraud reduction. ghipss and stakeholders in the payment industry are also building a fund to support consumer education. also, on a regular basis, payment service providers are educating the public on how to avoid scams in the use of the newly deployed payment products and services. 14. the bank of ghana is fully committed to the cash - lite agenda which ties in with the government of ghana ’ s digital economy agenda. so far, we have seen the introduction of the biometric national identification system and the digital addressing system which are all supportive of our quest to drive digitised financial transactions. as the central bank, we will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of these initiatives. of course, there will be challenges, but with firm commitment, we will eventually reduce the dominance of cash in transactions and improve the efficiency and security of payments for a more inclusive society. 15. to conclude, let me note that the future of banking services is digitisation and it brings opportunities as well as challenges. we can harness digitisation to promote transactional efficiency in the delivery of financial

in the trade deficit to us $ 681. 3 million in the first nine months of 2014, compared to a deficit of us $ 2. 7 billion in the same period in 2013. the improvement was due to a sharp decline in total imports ( by us $ 2. 3 billion ), which more than offset the reduction in total export receipts ( by us $ 293. 3 million ). gross international reserves increased to us $ 5. 9 billion at end - october 2014, a build - up of us $ 314. 2 million since end - december 2013. these positive developments have provided some support to the current stability observed in the foreign exchange markets. banking sector developments mr chairman, ladies and gentlemen, let me now turn to some developments in the banking sector. the banking industry grew strongly and exhibited some resilience in the past year. at endseptember 2014, total assets of the industry was [UNK]. 8 billion or 51. 0 percent of gdp. credit to the private sector continued to expand, growing by 52. 0 percent year - to - date to [UNK]. 7 billion or 18. 9 percent of gdp. the industry also continued to show a strong capital position, with the capital adequacy ratio averaging 17. 0 percent – well above the minimum 10 - percent requirement. the liquidity position of the industry was comfortable, although the bis central bankers ’ speeches upward adjustment of the cash reserve ratio put some stress on a few banks. the recent downward revision of the ratio should minimize the pressure on these banks. as at september 2014, the combined net profits of banks was [UNK]. 51 billion which translated into an annualised 34 - percent return on equity. despite the impressive industry - level performance, pockets of challenges remain in the banking industry that need to be addressed. a number of banks have high and growing nonperforming loans ( npls ), thin capital buffers for risk absorption, and have manifested liquidity challenges and thus resorted to frequent inter - bank borrowing. the 2009 – 12 recapitalizations helped to shore up banks ’ capital, enabling them contain these difficulties. however, inflation and the cedi ’ s depreciation over the period meant some capital erosion. this, combined with growing demands for liquidity as a result of oil business, implies that banks must grow their capital buffers to increase their relevance in the industry. already a number of banks have taken steps to attain, and even exceed, the new minimum capital level of gh