Koforidua, Mar. 3, GNA- The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has called on the commercial banks to assist the country to meet the criteria for entry into the West African single monetary zone, by adapting new monetary policies being introduced by the government and the Bank.

The Head of BoG's Payment Systems Office, Mr Damian Zaato, was addressing a seminar on the introduction of the Inter-Bank Credit Transfer System at Koforidua on Tuesday for stakeholders including bursars and revenue collecting agencies.

He said bringing down inflation to single digit by next year was the last of five criteria left for Ghana to qualify for entry into the zone and noted that the reduction of banks' lending rates in line with the BoG's policies would go a long way towards attaining that objective.

Mr Zaato explained that the introduction of the Credit Transfer System (CTS), which is expected to be launched on April 15, was meant to make all banks in Ghana to join countries worldwide to adopt modern trend in payment systems to complement cheques and bankers drafts.

He mentioned some of the advantages for payment through the Credit Transfer Voucher (CTV) as fast money transfer, improved payment system for high productivity, price stability and raising incomes and standard of living.

It was expected that with increased automation of the banking system, the CTS would grow to become a major aspect of electronic payment system using the CTV and urged banks to encourage the public to save and do business with non-cash payments by adopting the Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs), he added.

Mr Seth Amponsah Forson, also of the Payment Systems of the BoG, said the use of CTV would facilitate payments through the banking system including school fees, utility bills, purchases, application forms, registration fees, VAT and taxes.

He said the country had been divided into 11 zones to facilitate the operation of the clearing of CTVs to ensure shorter clearing time. Mr Isaac Adjei Acheampong, a Bursar, who chaired the function, stressed that the country had reached a stage where credit cards system should be popularised to meet growing economic trend in the West African sub-region.