Financial inclusion has been a top priority of the government for targeted benefits and poverty alleviation, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Highlighting the progress achieved under the present dispensation, Jaitley said, “Just four to five years ago, we were living in a system where 48 per cent of our population, that is, nearly 600 million people had never seen a bank in their life and were not connected to the banking system. Today, they have bank accounts.”

Jaitley was speaking at the 25th World Congress of Saving and Retail Bank (WCSRB).

Biometric identity

Commenting on the reforms undertaken by the Centre to aid targeted benefits and support, Jaitley said, “India took an experiment which is unique, where every Indian has a biometric identity. Each Indian has got a unique identification number linked with his bank account.”

He also said that a high rate of economic growth is necessary to alleviate poverty and ensure that benefits of development reach the poor.

Commenting on the economic growth outlook and poverty alleviation measures, Jaitely said, “Economies like ours all over the world need a high rate of growth. We want to use growth as a mechanism to pull the maximum number of people out of poverty, improve upon quality of life but we are conscious of the fact that dangers of development and progress benefiting a few and leaving many others out of the inclusion system are also there.”

The two-day 25th World Congress of Savings and Retail Banks was attended by World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI) members, savings and retail banks, banking policy-makers and banking industry experts. Commenting on the progress made by WSBI under the pledge to provide “an account for everybody”, which was outlined in 2012, outgoing WSBI President Heinrich Haasis said, “Since our World Bank Universal Financial Access 2020 commitment made in 2015, WSBI members have added 340 million accounts for 234 million people into the formal financial system thanks to their efforts.”

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