Financial inclusion is a compulsory topic of countries’ goals seeking to accentuate social reforms. This year the post-2015 Development Agenda addresses the issue as a key target for United Nations member countries.
To date, more than 60 governments from around the world have established financial inclusion as a formal objective, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Despite the achievements, significant differences are still observed in financial inclusion: in regions, incomes, genres and many other dimensions.
Peruvian Case
Nevertheless, a program that has seen successful results in Latin America is the Peruvian scheme, which sparks interest not only among governments in the region but the whole world.
According to the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Executive Director Alfred Hannig, Peru exemplifies how to implement regulations designed to speed up financial inclusion, as is the case of a law for electronic payment transactions.
“It is great, we can name it Peruvian Model, and is incredible; it has been replicated in Colombia and El Salvador, so this appears to be the way forward,” he said.
Some problems may arise in other countries with regard to the technological support for implementing electronic payment services, something that might be solved through the issuance of regulations.
During the seminar “Financial Inclusion: Can It Meet Multiple Macroeconomic Goals?,” he said sustainable development goals should also focus on the progress made concerning financial inclusion, because it’s the driving force for such goal.
Relation
Hannig said there is a connection between financial inclusion and growth of countries, as different studies state that nations committed to boosting the subject moved forward more rapidly than those that have not adopted the model.
In this context, one of the Development and Social Inclusion Ministry’s goals is to reduce the impact of the economic slowdown in the populations living in poverty or extreme poverty.
For this reason, US$1.3 billion has been allocated to reinforce social policies, the sector’s head Paola Bustamante stated.
Through the national strategy Incluir para Crecer, Midis is expected to allocate this money to improve and expand health, education, water and sanitation, financial and construction services offered by the State to families living in Andean and Amazon areas.
Reduced Poverty
“Social policies to address the most excluded people are base don the Incluir para Crecer strategy, where we work with different sectors and levels of government. We are optimistic, poverty will be decreased. We hope the downturn does not impact the poor,” she commented at De Interes Public, a program by Andina online channel.
She also recalled the current Government has exceeded the extreme poverty target of 6%, as it has dropped to a low of 4.3%.