Finance Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar chaired the 5th meeting of National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) Council on Friday. UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate (UNSGSA) on Inclusive Finance for Development, Queen Maxima of Netherlands joined the meeting through video-link, said a press release issued here.
While welcoming Queen Maxima, the Finance Minister appreciated her personal engagement and profound commitment towards financial inclusion and inclusive economic growth of developing nations. The Minister said that Government of Pakistan has considered Financial Inclusion as a key policy agenda for inclusive economic development and our efforts in this regard will bring economic prosperity among fellow Pakistanis. Finance Minister also highlighted the improvement in key macroeconomic indicators.
He mentioned that the current momentum needs to be maintained to help Pakistan join the ranks of developed economies. Her Majesty Queen Maxima appreciated the significant progress
made by Pakistan since the last meeting of NFIS Council which she attended during her visit in 2016.
She expressed her satisfaction on developments made on initiatives like AMA Scheme, National Payment Gateway and improved financial inclusion indicators. The council reviewed the progress of NFIS implementation and improvements particularly in the areas of branchless banking, agricultural credit, SME Financing, Payment System Infrastructure & coverage. Update on Asaan (Easy) Mobile Account (AMA) scheme which was approved by NFIS Council in its last meeting was also shared with the participants.
AMA scheme has been developed to facilitate swift opening of
a digital transaction account and enhance usage of digital financial services by anyone, from anywhere, at any time at an affordable cost.
HM Queen Maxima, while appreciating the strong commitment and collaborations among regulators and other NFIS stakeholders, put forth her views and suggestions for promotion of financial inclusion in Pakistan. She emphasised the need for client-centric products to
meet the expectations of the customer which will help drive usage. She hoped that the implementation of AMA scheme will bear fruits and have an impact on people’s lives.
She also highlighted the need for women financial inclusion through gender balance in financial sector workforce and gender disaggregated financial inclusion data. While concluding the meeting, the Finance Minister stated that the government will continue to pursue the agenda of inclusive economic growth along with digital financial inclusion for the prosperity and well-being of the people. He thanked Queen Maxima for participation in the NFIS Council meeting and her support for the achievement of outcomes & objectives of NFIS.
Those who attended the meeting included senior officials of the Finance Division, EAD, SECP, State Bank of Pakistan, FBR, PTA, Nadra besides representatives of provincial governments.
