KARACHI, Feb 1: Financial sector in Pakistan remains restricted in its outreach as the majority of population remains either excluded or informally served, said Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan Kazi Abdul Muktadir on Friday.

Delivering his key note address on ‘Financial Inclusion, Consumer Awareness and Protection’ at the 4th Conference on Financial Services and Consumers, he said: “This limited access is reflected in the total number of bank accounts, presently around 32 million, and the total number of borrowers, which is only 5.7 million.”

He said this high level of financial exclusion is largely attributed to lack of appropriate product offering by financial service providers and lack of public awareness about availability of financial services and products.

He urged all stakeholders including consumer associations, trade bodies, Banking Ombudsman, financial and legal functionaries, banks and Competition Commission to join hands in eradicating financial consumer malpractices.

Muktadir said that SBP was cognizant of high financial exclusion in the country and committed to tackling the associated challenges in a sustainable manner.

He outlined the multi-pronged financial inclusion strategy of SBP including introduction of Basic Banking Account (BBA), requiring commercial banks operating in Pakistan to provide basic banking facilities to the low income people of the country.

He said the introduction of the Annual Branch Licensing Policy requires banks with 100 branches to open at least 20pc of their branches outside big cities and in Tehsil Headquarters where no branch of any bank exists.—Staff Reporter