The Prime Minister's Advisor for Financial and Economic Affairs, Mudher Muhammed Salih, confirmed on Saturday that financial inclusion in Iraq, represented by bank accounts, has increased to 14 million with 20 million users, while indicating that Iraq is witnessing a boom in adopting e-governance as a basis for integrity and financial efficiency.
"The pillar of financial inclusion is represented by the number of personal bank accounts, as inclusion aims to enable individuals and companies to access financial services appropriate to their needs in an easy manner and at a reasonable cost, while ensuring legal protection and transparency," said Salih to the Iraqi News Agency - INA.
He added, "Financial inclusion focuses on enhancing the financial integration of economically and socially marginalized groups, such as the poor, women, and youth, as well as small and medium-sized companies that lack adequate access to financing in the banking system by opening a bank account."
"National indicators confirm that financial inclusion in Iraq has increased from 20% to 48% currently compared to previous years. The reason is due to two main factors, which are the localization of salaries of employees, workers, retirees and social care. The other is the spread of digital payments or digital financial inclusion," he noted.
Salih stressed that "Iraq is witnessing a boom within the policy of the government program that considered e-governance the basis of integrity, transparency, financial and economic efficiency as well as optimal investment of resources and time," noting that "recent statistics indicate that the number of bank accounts is about 14 million bank accounts and more than 20 million payment card users, which means an increase in the percentage of financial inclusion from 20% to 48%, which is a percentage measured by the number of bank accounts opened for adults in the population."
"There are several open bank accounts that are dormant or zero, which should be excluded to reach the correct number of open bank accounts. There are open and zero accounts belonging to expatriates, deceased persons, bankrupt companies, companies that have left work, and individuals who have not dealt with their bank accounts that are open in banks and are under guardianship or in trouble, as other factors and hopes are many."
He added, "The real criterion for adopting the bank account as a criterion for financial inclusion is the bank accounts opened by active individuals, not the zero or dormant ones, which requires excluding them from the statistics of banks and the Iraqi banking system in general."
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