Bausili: “The financial inclusion agenda must be a State policy”
The Secretary of Finance, Santiago Bausili, chaired this Thursday the tenth meeting of the Coordination Council for Financial Inclusion in the Original Peoples Hall of the Casa Rosada, where the progress made during the last 4 years was analyzed.
Before representatives of the public and private sectors, academics and international organizations, Bausili presented the status of the Council’s initiatives and exchanged opinions on the next steps to follow. “We have all agreed on the fact that the financial inclusion agenda should be a State policy and therefore should continue to develop beyond the political alignment of the government administration,” Mr. Secretary said.
Likewise, an approach was made in the areas of public policies that are considered as priorities, including the digitalization of means of payment, access to the financial system and availability of information for the purposes of credit, financial education and gender.
During the meeting, the participants also mentioned the “2019 Global Microscope ” published by “The Economist” that measures the regulatory framework for financial inclusion, in which Argentina was ranked 7th among 55 countries, moving forward 33 positions compared with 2015.
The Financial Inclusion Coordination Council was created by resolution 121/2017 of the former Ministry of Finance to develop policies for universal access to banking and financial services. Since then, the policies promoted by the Council have tended to guarantee, to individuals and businesses, access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their payment, savings, credit and insurance needs, and that are provided in a responsible and sustainable manner. The creation of the Council was based on evidence that shows that high levels of financial inclusion contribute significantly to the sustained economic growth of a country and reduce the vulnerability of its citizens.
The meeting was attended by the permanent members of the Financial Inclusion Coordination Council: the Secretariat of Finance of the Ministry of Treasury; the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic; the Federal Administration of Public Revenue; the Social Security National Administration; the Ministry of Health and Social Development; the Ministry of Production and Labor; the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology; and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Public Works and Housing. Representatives of the National Securities Commission, the National Institute of Associativism and Social Economy of the Ministry of Justice, the private sector, academics and international organizations also participated.