Kathmandu, October 1 : Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) Governor Chiranjibi Nepal has said that the availability of data and information on banking and financial access and inclusion helps the government in formulating necessary policies and programs targeted to the rural areas.
Speaking at the launching ceremony of Nepal Financial Inclusion Portal held in the capital on Sunday, NRB Governor Nepal said that the portal will provide information and data from very rural parts of the country where the government and regulators can’t reach immediately. “It is very important for policymakers as they can develop policies and financial strategies by looking this portal,” said NRB Governor Nepal.
“This portal will help both government and the central bank for the development of financial infrastructure toward increasing the financial access which is must for the economic growth of the country,” said NRB Governor Nepal, delivering his key note speech in the launch.
The Nepal Financial Inclusion Portal, launched by the NRB Governor Nepal, is an innovative tool to help regulatory bodies, financial service providers and infrastructure providers build in-roads to help the financially excluded become financially independent. It enables commercial banks, development banks, finance companies, microfinance companies and non-bank payment service providers to report their data in a systematic manner.
NRB with the support of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has set up a portal which provides real time information and data to map out a realistic picture of the financial access and the usage. Some of the core functions of the portal are measuring financial inclusion and generating analytical reports to facilitate a data-driven policy intervention.
Stating that the country has recently moved toward the implementation of the federal structure, he said that the newly launched portal would also support all central, provincial and local governments to make the economic development sustainable and to reach the people for the complete access of government services.
Highlighting that the NRB has become one of the major sources and access points for the financial information, he said that the new portal will help the central bank on dissemination of the information. He also vowed to gradually upgrade the portal in the days to come.
Also speaking at the ceremony as a key note speaker, Ayshanie Medagangoda-Labe, Deputy Country Director of the UNDP, said that the financial inclusion and access can be increased through literacy and use of technology.
She pointed out various barriers for the financial inclusion like the lack of literacy, distance that people have to travel, lack of saving and income and trust in banking or financial institution.
Lauding that the Nepal has been progressing ‘slowly and steadily’ in the journey of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, she also said that the initiative is a very good opportunity for Nepal which has been championing the SDGs and currently implementing the federal structure.
“One of the aims of the SDGs is to leave no one behind. The challenge that we have in front of us is how to get the financial access, literacy, infrastructure and technology to these 753 local units,” she said.
Similarly, Francois Coupienne of the UNCDF said that the data offers tremendous opportunities for the policy makers.
“If the data is available, you can know the needs and behaviors of consumers,” he said. “There is a huge gap between the different needs and aspirations of each individual and the ‘one size fits all’ approach of the financial services providers. Innovation, technology and data will play a key role in filing this gap,” he added.
The Nepal Financial Inclusion portal aims to help the central bank and the government to identify the areas that need financial access points, the reason for the need and scale should the financial access point operate.
