BPNG sees drop in unbanked population

THE country’s unbanked population has reduced from 80 per cent to about 70 per cent, according to Bank of PNG Governor Loi Bakani, pictured.
Bakani made the revelation during a conference on Friday to announce the Financial Inclusion Innovation Summit which will start today and ends on Thursday.
“Sometimes back in 2010 when we started this journey, we quoted a lot of figure that was based on figures done by a lot of international institutions,” he said.
“We quoted a figure of 80 per cent of our people are unbanked, or do not have access to financial services such as bank accounts.
“The figure has come down to close to 70 per cent. That’s a big improvement for a growing population of over eight million.”
Bakani said it was a challenge to have a growing population especially in rural areas where infrastructure was scarce.
“One positive development is the telecommunications advancement which has allowed us to use mobile phones around the country,” he said.
He said about 200 people are expected to attend the three-day summit.
“We are bringing in our partners in the Pacific,” he said.
The summit previously known as the Pacific Microfinance Week is the platform for Pacific financial sector stakeholders to access innovations, share knowledge, network and engage in technical exchanges.