A survey by the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) indicates that 85% of respondents believe the e-cedi can help reduce money laundering and other illegal financial activities given the traceability and transparency usually associated with blockchain enabled solutions.
According to the PwC 2021 Ghana Banking survey, 60% of the respondents expect an improvement in the country’s foreign exchange reserves on the back of the safer, quicker and traceable medium of cross border payments and remittances the e-cedi provides.
“It must however be emphasised that the reserve positions of a country are much more a function of the competitiveness of that economy supported by the goods and services it produces and offers and the demand for those,” the survey added.
Banks expect a boost in trade finance activities with the introduction of the e-cedi. “Clearly there are benefits to the regulator and the nation at large if the e-cedi is well implemented.”
According to the survey, 95% of the respondents believe the e-cedi will positively impact the banking sector and wider economy by deepening financial inclusion, supporting the country’s digitisation agenda and helping improve monetary policy given the enhanced control of the regulator over money supply in digital currency form.
Infrastructure for e-cedi introduction
Also, 80% of the respondents are not ready with the required infrastructure and or are not sure if their current infrastructure will support the use of the e-cedi when introduced.
However, 78% of the respondents believe whatever form the e-cedi takes and technology requirements, their infrastructure should be ready within two years.
The 2021 Ghana Banking Survey seeks to explore the readiness of the Ghanaian banking sector for the e-Cedi, its design and potential impact use, regulatory implications, what the expected benefits and challenges are and the future prospects of this “new” form of the Ghana Cedi.
PwC surveyed bank executives – chief executive officers, chief finance officers, chief risk officers, chief operation officers, heads of information technology and heads of strategy – in Ghana through interviews and questionnaires.
These tools were carefully designed to elicit views on the readiness of the banks for the introduction of the e-cedi, its design and potential impact use, regulatory implications, the expected benefits and challenges and the prospects. 20 banks (out of the total of 23) participated in the survey.
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