Experts discuss financial inclusion, employment in Arab region

AMMAN – Policymakers, bankers and experts from development agencies  gathered on the eastern shores of the Dead Sea for two days, and discussed ways to deepen the dialogue on improving access to financial services and economic perspectives of enterprises and households. 

According to a statement issued by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), said that more than 120 regional and international policymakers, alongside leaders from international organisations and the private sector convened over two days  to deepen the high-level policy dialogue, which was launched in Berlin in April 2015. 

Greater access to basic financial services promotes social well-being, stimulates growth and jobs, thus shared prosperity, the experts said, indicating that in the Arab region,  only a very limited number of households and enterprises can use adequate financial services at low cost to save, invest, make payments, or to protect themselves, according to the statement. 

Unemployment among young adults is another core challenge.

The event, entitled Financial Inclusion and Employment in the Arab Region, was organised by the CBJ, the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ). 

The focus of the two-day event was on strategies for financial inclusion and on financial sector reforms that enable small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to flourish, as they are major contributors to employment and economic growth.

The conference witnessed the CBJ officially initiating the process of developing the financial inclusion strategy for Jordan in cooperation with other relevant stakeholders, said the statement, adding the AMF and GIZ will assist the Kingdom and other partner governments across the region in their policy change processes towards more inclusive financial sectors.

The CBJ said that Jordan takes the regional lead in speeding up policies to enable more people and firms to make use of a range of affordable financial services.