With growing concern at the spread of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Ethiopian Bankers Association, a consortium of commercial banks, has formed an ad-hoc committee that will work on lessening the impact of the virus on the industry.

The new committee, which was formed two weeks ago with one member from every bank for a total of 18, is working on preparing guidelines for the banks to use in their daily operations.

Employees of banks working in the finance department, messengers delivering cheques and bank tellers are highly exposed to the virus. So far, employees working at over half of the banks have contracted the virus. Tellers, security guards, branch managers and messengers are among those who have tested positive. Now, the bank executives are taking action.

The committee, which held its first meeting last week, has outlined the working pillars of the plan, which include guidelines for the safety of employees, customer service and corporate social responsibility. After the first meeting, the chair of the committee sent a questionnaire for the commercial banks to reflect on what kinds of measures they have taken so far. Many of the banks have already responded with preventative measures and crafted stimulus packages for various sectors.

Ever since the virus first arrived in the country, banks had been organising a committee that observes the ramifications of the spread of the virus and suggests counter measures. Most of the banks have raised the cash withdrawal limits on ATMs to minimise the necessity of customers arriving at branches. They have also waived fees on ATM transactions.

"We're supplying sanitiser, soap, gloves, masks and other necessary protective gear to every branch and head office," said Wondoessen Teshome, president of Enat Bank.

After going through the replies of the banks, the committee will create a draft of its guiding principles and table it to the board of the Association for approval, according to an official statement from the Association.

Part of the ad-hoc committee's job is to devise a plan that allows bank management to work remotely at their homes without affecting operations in order to prevent the deaths of top executives, according to the same statement from the Association.