KARACHI: The central bank launched the Pakistan Financial Inclusion Index (P-FII) on Wednesday, indicating that the nation’s financial inclusion level reached 58.1 for 2024, an increase from 54.8 in 2023, a statement said.
The index comprehensively measures the state of financial inclusion in the country, taking into account the access, usage and quality of financial services.
The P-FII result shows that the three sub-indices -- access, usage and quality -- are recorded at 72.3, 62.5, and 43.9, respectively. This suggests that although financial infrastructure has been significantly improved, there is a necessity to improve the usage and quality of financial services.
Under the SBP Act 1956, improving financial inclusion in the country is one of the key mandates and objectives of the SBP. To achieve this objective, the SBP is implementing a comprehensive National Financial Inclusion Strategy, ie, NFIS 2024-28, to expand the access of financial services across the country and improve their usage and quality.
As outlined in this strategy, the development of P-FII reflects the SBP’s commitment to ensuring informed and evidence-based policymaking. The SBP now aims to push financial inclusion to 75 per cent by 2028 and reduce the gender gap to 25 per cent. “The P-FII provides a comprehensive assessment of financial inclusion levels on the basis of 69 indicators reflecting banking, non-banking, and payment services provided by banks and financial institutions,” the SBP said in the statement.
“These indicators include parameters related to the financial sector infrastructure, usage of financial products and services, and quality of financial services,” it added.
The index is developed in line with the international best practices of benchmarking each indicator against a defined target value representing its projected outcome that the SBP aims to achieve by 2030, it said.
The development of the financial inclusion index is a growing trend among central banks to assess the inclusivity, efficacy, and outreach of the financial sector to serve the population at large. The SBP started the development of P-FII back in 2023 with a research study to review the data parameters and methodologies employed by various central banks and multilateral organisations in constructing such indices. Later on, rigorous consultations were held with various domestic and international stakeholders to refine and finalise the P-FII.
