E-cedi is the ultimate weapon to fight corruption; it will provide transparency, reduce fraud – Bawumia

Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has hinted that the Bank of Ghana’s (BoGs) digital currency known as E-cedi will be a big game changer in his government if he gets the opportunity to serve as President.

The E-Cedi introduced and piloted by the Central Bank is expected to be launched nationwide very soon.

According to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the country’s digital currency will be the ultimate weapon to help Ghana fight corruption.

In his nation address on Wednesday, February 8, the Vice President said the e-cedi will among other things enhance transparency and reduce the risk of fraud and tax evasion.

“Recently the Bank of Ghana has completed a pilot of a digital version of the Ghana cedi note in Sefwi Wiawso. This is known as central bank digital currency (CBDC) or e-cedi. The e-cedi is designed to work online and offline and will be launched by the Bank of Ghana in due course.

“In my humble opinion, the e-cedi, with appropriate privacy protections, will be the ultimate weapon in our fight against corruption because it will provide transparency, reduce the risk of fraud, robbery, tax avoidance, and money laundering since it will be easy to track the movement of money and identify suspicious activity. The e-cedi will quicken the pace of Ghana’s move towards a cashless or near cashless society,” Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said.

As part of his ambition to move Ghana towards a cashless economy, the Vice President has promised that when voted President, there will be no taxes on digital payments under his administration.

As a result, Dr. Bawumia has assured that the Electronic Transaction Levy will be scrapped by his administration.