ISLAMABAD, April 7 (APP): Finance Minister, Senator Mohammad
Ishaq Dar chaired 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 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 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 any one, 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 emphasized the need for client centric products to
meet the expectations of customer which will help drive usage.
She hoped that the implementation of AMA scheme will bear
fruits and have impact on people’s lives.
She also highlighted the need for women financial inclusion through gender balance in financial sector workforce and gender dis-aggregated financial inclusion data.
While concluding the meeting, the Finance Minister stated that
the government will continue to the 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 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.
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