KARACHI – State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Jameel Ahmad reaffirmed the central bank’s dedication to increasing financial inclusion through strengthened collaborations with both global and domestic stakeholders.
He shared these views in a meeting held with Chief Executive Officer of Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Dr Alfred Hannig in Karachi on Monday.
Jameel Ahmad highlighted SBP’s recently launched National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) 2024-28. He said that the SBP will continue its efforts to enhance financial inclusion through digitalization, and reduce the gender gap in finance.
Dr Hannig discussed areas of mutual collaborations to continue efforts towards breaking the barriers. He highlighted the crucial and progressive need to enhance regulators’ capacity in South Asia region to achieve impactful financial inclusion policy objectives, and stressed that the implementation should be balanced with effective cyber security resilience and consumer protection.
SBP is a founding member of AFI since 2008, which is a policy leadership alliance of central banks and financial regulatory institutions from 84 countries with the common objective of advancing financial inclusion at country, regional and international levels.
SBP currently serves on AFI Board, and as Vice-Chair of AFI Gender Inclusive Finance Committee and the South Asia Regional Financial Inclusion Initiative (SARFII).
The meeting also explored opportunities to further strengthen institutional collaboration in areas of digital payments, financial literacy, sustainable finance and MSMEs financing. Both parties resolved to continue efforts for improving financial health and well-being of masses, especially of unbanked and underbanked population segments.
