2020/21 Budget Communication 2020-21 Budget Communication - Final (1)-compresse | Page 24

of the existing system. We project this year that the Digitization will extend at a minimum to the
Road Traffic Department and the Office of the Registrar General.
Mr. Speaker,
We recognize though that although the Government, the private sector and the banking sector have
all been working toward greater use of digital transactions for payments, these efforts have often
been siloed—running on separate tracks, and moving at different paces. The lessons of Dorian—
and presently of COVID-19—have demonstrated that as a matter of national priority, the various
stakeholders need to collaborate and move in unison to accelerate the adoption of digital payment
systems. Yes, it is a matter of national efficiency and national competitiveness. But as recent
hurricanes and the current pandemic have shown us, it is also a matter of national security.
Thus, I am pleased to advise that the Ministry of Finance together with the Clearing Banks
Association and the Central Bank have established targets to reduce cash and cheque utilization
across the country as follows:
● A 50 percent reduction in the utilization of cash within the next five years; fueled by more
transparent, business and consumer friendly regulations around the use of debit and credit
cards, and the full integration of the Sand Dollar.
● A 50 percent reduction of the utilization of cheques in 3 years and 80 percent reduction in
5 years; boosted by greater utilization of the electronic clearing house to allow for direct
payments.
Setting these targets and establishing a task force to make this happen will ensure that we can, in
a measurable way, determine our success in removing the legal, bureaucratic and even cultural
obstacles in the crucial shift to digital transactions.
The aim of this initiative is not to eliminate the use of cash. Cash will continue to be a feature of
the payment system. However, the further entrenchment and utilization of digital means has the
opportunity to expand financial inclusion, to open new business opportunities, to bring
sophisticated financial services to even the most remote parts of the country and to improve
personal and business security. The work of the imminent Task Force will be to engage business
communities and civil society to ensure appropriate attention to privacy, cyber security, as well as
to ensure a proper understanding and buy-in of this initiative by the general public.
Energy Reform: Renewable Energy and Solarization
Mr. Speaker,
An essential pillar to our transformational socio economic agenda is to achieve and optimize
energy efficiency by incorporating the use of renewable resources. The imperative of this
objective was reinforced by the passing of Hurricane Dorian, which left Abaco and Grand Bahama
without electricity for weeks.
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