Economic Reporter :
Bangladesh has become a ‘silicon valley’ for pro-poor growth, with driving financial innovation and empowering people from the bottom of the society, former Bangladesh Bank (BB) governor Dr Atiur Rahman said.
The economist was speaking on Bangladesh’s experiences in financial inclusion and inclusive growth at a seminar, organised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at its headquarters in Washington DC on Thursday, according to a press release received on Friday.
He attributed the pro-poor economic development to the government for providing the space for innovation by giving highest emphasis on digitisation.
“Indeed, the policy move for faster digitisation has been democratizing and enhancing efficiency and inclusion of financial services,” he said.
Dr Rahman, who led the country’s central bank for several years, said BB’s initiatives for financial inclusion complemented with the core objective of the government’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which focuses on the notion of none should be left behind.
This drive for financial inclusion of BB together with cheaper health and social solution helped improve the human development indicators of the country, he said, noting that all this eventually led to faster reduction of poverty and enhancement in life expectancy.
At the seminar, Atiur also gave a brief on the tremendous development in the agriculture sector, contribution of mobile financial services and targeted credit programme to boost quality of financial inclusion.
He invited multilateral financial institution like IMF to conduct research and process documentation for understanding the impact of financial studies on the macroeconomic stability and social cohesion.
