Infrastructure, policy support stressed to expand financial inclusion

Observing that Bangladesh lags far behind in financial inclusion, economists at a programme on Tuesday underscored the need for infrastructure development and policy support to make progress in this area.

The observations came at a programme titled “Financial Inclusion in Bangladesh: Imperatives and Practices” and jointly organised by Policy Research Institute (PRI) and Economic Reporters’ Forum (ERF) at the ERF auditorium in the capital.

According to the Economic Intelligence Unit’s Global Microscope 2020 report, Bangladesh ranked 44th out of 55 countries in overall financial inclusion.

“Bangladesh notably lacks infrastructure and policy support in ensuring financial inclusion,” said PRI Executive Director Dr Ahsan H Mansur. He suggested the government upgrade landscape development databases.

“Our economy is expanding day by day. That is why every citizen should come under financial inclusion,” the noted economist said.

He said there is huge potential in all sectors of Bangladesh in terms of digitalisation, but there are some challenges too. “We have to identify the challenges and overcome those.”

Mansur urged mobile financial service providers to ensure transparency and good governance in their services for the sake of the mass people.

Pointing out that income disparity was increasing largely in Bangladesh, PRI Research Director Dr Abdur Razzaque suggested the government take proper initiatives to reduce it. He said disparity might decline if financial inclusion increased.

“We should bring all the people of the country, including the poor and women, under digital financial services. We need a proper database to ensure accountability,” he also said.

Razzaque said Bangladesh had made enough progress economically in the last 50 years. “Now we need to go forward to create a proper strategy for the sake of future development.”

Executive Director of the Bangladesh Bank Debdulal Roy said how the financially excluded groups could be included in financial services was a key challenge for the country.

“We should adopt the 4IR (Fourth Industrial Revolution) mechanism. The government spends a lot of money on social security programmes, but we cannot distribute the aid properly due to the lack of a database,” he said.

PRI Director Dr Bazlul H Khondker said financial inclusion was very important for eliminating poverty.

“Our youths want to use technology in their work, and the government should create a strategy in this regard,” he said.

He underscored access to a full range of quality financial services, including credit, savings, and insurance, saying properly delivering those would ensure dignity and client protection.

Bazlul, also an economics professor at the University of Dhaka, mentioned several challenges, including commitment, cooperation, coordination, and co-existence, in ensuring financial inclusion.

ERF President Sharmeen Rinvy presided over the function while its General Secretary SM Rashidul Islam moderated it.