Conclusions
The results provide strong, new evidence of the importance of tackling supply side barriers to access, and particularly barriers to accessing formal financial services, in order to contribute to investment and growth.
This suggests the need for policy responses to tackle these barriers by:
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Reducing costs and increasing financial services provision where possible e.g. by supporting innovations such as mobile banking, cell phone banking, and e-banking, and the use of new distribution channels for financial services, such as local stores;
Investing in financial literacy or marketing programmes to improve understanding of financial services and knowledge about their availability, particularly for women and rural people;
Establishing credit bureaux and asset registries to make it easier for people to qualify for loans; and
Supporting regulatory reform and capacity building to create the right environment and incentives for financial providers to expand access, balancing the need for wider access with the need to protect people against instability, fraud and money laundering.
By reducing barriers to financial services, such policies could help to stimulate household investment and thus contribute to growth and poverty reduction in developing countries.