BI comes up with index or financial inclusion
The Reserve Bank of a (RBI) on Tuesday introd the financial inclusion x (Fi-index) to capture the nt of financial inclusion in ountry. This was among the uncements made in the bi-monthly monetary policy pril this year.
e Fi-index has been conualised as a comprehensive x incorporating details of ing, investments, insurance, al, and the pension sector in ultation with government respective sectoral regularbi said. The index caps information on various cts of financial inclusion in a e value ranging between 0 100, where 0 represents plete financial exclusion and ndicates full financial inclue
The index is responsive to ease of access, availability and usage of services, and quality of services, comprising 97 indicators in all. A unique feature of is the quality parameter, which captures the quality aspect of financial inclusion as reflected by financial literacy, consumer protection, and inequalities and deficiencies in services.
The Fi-index, which will be published in July every year, has been constructed without any ‘base year’ and as such it reflects cumulative efforts of all stakeholders over the years towards financial inclusion. The annual Fi-index for the period ending March 2021 is 53.9 as against 43.4 for the period ending March 2017. On July 15, 2021, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das had outlined three challenges in improving the financial inclusion infrastructure in India.
These parameters are the identification of the customer, reaching the last mile, and providing relevant, affordable and safe products, Das had said at a summit.