Access to Financial Services : A Review of the Issues and Public Policy Objectives

Claessens, Stijn

Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank

关键词: ABSENCE OF CREDIT;    ACCESS BARRIERS;    ACCESS TO BANK ACCOUNTS;    ACCESS TO CREDIT;    ACCESS TO FINANCE;   

DOI  :  10.1093/wbro/lkl004
RP-ID  :  76760

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This article reviews the evidence on theimportance of finance for economic well-being. It providesdata on the use of basic financial services by householdsand firms across a sample of countries, assesses thedesirability of universal access, and provides an overviewof the macroeconomic, legal, and regulatory obstacles toaccess. Despite the benefits of finance, the data show thatuse of financial services is far from universal in manycountries, especially developing countries. Universal accessto financial services has not been a public policy objectivein most countries and would likely be difficult to achieve.Countries can, however, facilitate access to financialservices by strengthening institutional infrastructure,liberalizing markets and facilitating greater competition,and encouraging innovative use of know-how and technology.Government interventions to directly broaden access tofinance, however, are costly and fraught with risks, amongothers the risk of missing the targeted groups. The articleconcludes with recommendations for global actions aimed atimproving data on access and use and suggestions on areas offurther analysis to identify constraints to broadening access.