Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, UN Secretary General''s Special Advocate (UNSGSA) for Inclusive Finance for Development and World Bank President Dr Jim Yong Kim will be visiting Pakistan today (Tuesday) to promote the national financial inclusion strategy launched by the country last year. Queen Máxima will arrive in Pakistan on three-day visit today (Tuesday) while World Bank President arrived on Monday.
The visiting World Bank President Dr Jim Yong Kim is scheduled to hold a meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Tuesday with discussions on implementation of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) on the agenda, informed sources revealed to Business Recorder. The NFIS aims at enhancing formal financial access to 50 percent of the adult population by 2020 particularly access by the poor, women, and marginalized segments of society including micro, small and rural enterprises.
Sources in the Finance Ministry told this correspondent that the World Bank President was initially expected to launch the strategy in May 2015 but was unable to schedule a visit to Pakistan and eventually after a delay of four months the Finance Minister unveiled the strategy. They added that financial inclusion strategy was developed by the SBP with technical assistance from the WB to achieve financial stability through policy reforms. Additionally, access of credit to the poor as well as small businesses would be helpful in reducing poverty and achieving high growth.
When contracted, an official of the SBP was unable to confirm about any progress with respect to implementation during the last five months after the launch of the NFIS. He promised to provide details by close of business but could not be contacted till the filing of this story.
The NFIS, according to sources revolves around three components: (i) targeting the poor and low income for poverty reduction; (ii) promoting enabling regulation and consumer protection for financial stability and facilitate; and (iii) encouraging economic activity, promoting local economic development for economic growth. The key enablers identified for successful implementation of the strategy include commitment to the NFIS, enabling legal and regulatory environment, adequate supervisory and judicial capacity, and ICT (information & communication technology) infrastructure. The major goals set in the NFIS are to diversifying the range of basic payments, remittances, and saving products, increasing the financing opportunities, increasing penetration of insurance services as well as bringing pensions to more workers and developing housing finance products.
Moreover, the strategy also emphasises fostering Islamic finance, ensuring consumer protection and increasing financial literacy particularly in the un-served marginalized segments of society. The government aims to ensure that formal financial access is available to 50 percent of the adult population by 2020. Sources stated the SBP was working with all the stakeholders to develop a market based inclusive financial system catering to the financial needs of all segments of the economy, especially agriculture, micro-enterprises, SMEs, and low cost housing, which are commercially less attractive but strategically important.
During her visit, the Queen will meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President Mamnoon Hussain as well as stakeholders from the public and private sectors. According to Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilullah, the Queen in her capacity as UN Secretary-General''s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development encourages universal access for individuals and enterprises, at a reasonable cost, to a wide range of financial services, provided by diverse responsible and sustainable institutions. He stated that inclusive Finance for Development is one of the key priorities of the government''s economic development policies. Pakistan has taken a number of important measures in recent years, including the launch of the NFIS, in order to promote the key objectives of financial inclusion.
The overall objective of the Queen''s visit, according to UNDP, is to engage with national and international stakeholders to encourage the acceleration of Financial Inclusion as a vehicle to alleviate poverty and foster equitable economic growth in Pakistan, build on the country''s well known efforts in this area. It is also aimed at promoting financial inclusion and supporting the implementation of the country''s NFIS. Launched in May 2015, the Strategy aims to expand the availability of the financial tools the poor need to protect themselves'' against hardship and improve their lives.
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