Welcome to the Reserve Bank of Fiji’s Public Awareness column. Over the next few weeks a series of articles on financial inclusion will be published. The Reserve Bank of Fiji is co-hosting the annual Alliance for Financial Inclusion Global Policy Forum in September.
Over the past decade financial inclusion has emerged at the forefront of the development world as a means to improving people’s lives and reducing poverty as well as contributing to economic growth.
Financial inclusion requires a public and private sector collaborative approach and is about empowering individuals and businesses to access and use a range of affordable and appropriate financial services and products. The financial inclusion drive hit Fiji in late 2009. This was the result of a two day national stakeholder consultation workshop co-hosted by the Reserve Bank of Fiji and the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program. This was a watershed event for the country in the financial inclusion space.