RBF UNDERTAKES SECOND FINANCIAL SERVICES DEMAND SIDE SURVEY
26 October 2020
The Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) in partnership with the Fiji Bureau of Statistics (FBoS), the United Nations Capital Development Fund managed by the Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (UNCDF-PFIP) and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) commenced a second national Financial Services Demand Side Survey (DSS) over a six week period, from 26 October to 4 December, 2020.
The primary purpose of the DSS, which was first undertaken in 2014, is to enable Government, the RBF and other stakeholders to gain a better understanding of the financial situations, needs and barriers of different segments of the Fijian population. This year’s DSS includes a focus on gender and green financial inclusion and will capture the issues women in Fiji face with regards to access, usage and quality of financial products and services and the levels of resilience of the Fijian people to climate-related events. The survey will cover a sample of over 1,000 adults that have been purposively selected from across the country’s four divisions to ensure national representation by location, gender and income level.
Data collected from the DSS will in turn assist in the formulation of evidence-based policy interventions to aid in the development of the financial sector and enhance financial inclusion. A key outcome of the exercise will be determining targets for the next National Financial Inclusion Strategy for Fiji, which will replace the current framework expiring this year.
The national survey is co-funded by AFI and UNCDF-PFIP and will be undertaken by the RBF, as project manager, with assistance from FBoS. The results of the survey are expected to be released within the first quarter of 2021.