World Bank: Positive growth for financial inclusion in Malaysia

by **Cals** Thu 20 Aug 2015, 20:42

World Bank: Positive growth for financial inclusion in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 20): The World Bank foresees a positive trend of financial inclusion in Malaysia moving forward, said World Bank Group Senior Financial Economist, Finance and Markets Global Practice Dr Jose De Luna Martinez.
"We do not rank the countries in terms of levels of financial inclusions but Malaysia is the second-highest country after Singapore," he said on the sidelines at the media briefing of the Global Findez 2014 Measuring Financial Inclusion around the World today.
He also said that Malaysia has achieved one of the highest levels of financial inclusion among Southeast Asian countries due to policies that are set in place, apart from its resilient and inclusive financial sector.
"I think Malaysia is a success story in terms of its assets and percentage of its GDP (gross domestic product)," he said, noting that Malaysia's success was due to its positive vision of its master plan that was put in place years ago and its ability to carve out a niche in Islamic Banking.
From 2011 to 2014, account ownership for adults from the poorest 40% of households in Malaysia increased 26%, from 50% to 76%, said the World Bank in a statement today.
According to the Global Findex 2014, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand lead ASEAN inclusion rates with about four to five adults benefiting from access to financial services and are able to save, borrow and manage risk, it added.
To recap, in April this year the World Bank released the second edition of the Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) database; and the data are available online.
The Global Findex data collection project launched by the World Bank in 2011 provides comparable indicators showing how individuals in 143 countries around the world save, borrow, make payments and manage risk, said Global Findex 2014's co-author Peter Van Oudheusden who was also present at the briefing today.
He also said that Malaysia's financial inclusion grew from 66% in 2011 to 81% in 2014.