Bangladesh behind neighbours: BIBM
Bangladesh is still lagging behind in terms of financial inclusion as only 1.6 percent of its wage earners receive their pay through banking channels, a study found.
When it comes to South Asian neighbours, it is 4 percent for India and 7.1 percent for Sri Lanka, it said, adding that Pakistan was just behind Bangladesh with 1.4 percent.
The research paper titled “Achieving SDGs in Bangladesh: The Role of the Banking Sector” was presented by the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) at a seminar in its auditorium in the capital yesterday.
Md Mohiuddin Siddique, professor and director of the BIBM, lead the research team and presented the keynote paper.
Bangladesh is yet to catch up in other aspects as well. Some one third of its population have bank accounts whereas it is 53 percent in India and 82.7 percent in Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh is also trailing behind others regarding the use of debit cards, in savings and other financial activities, the research found. Just 5.2 percent of the population use debit cards whereas it is 22 percent in India and 24.9 percent in Sri Lanka.
The banking sector has a lot of space to improve in terms of financial inclusion to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the report said.
However, the detoriaration of the financial health of state banks is a matter of concern for financial inclusion, it said.
Bangladesh Bank has opened special types of account like Tk 10 account, school banking and agent banking which furthered financial inclusion, said SK Sur Chowdhury, the central bank's banking reforms adviser.