Nineteen per cent of adult Fijians remain excluded from the financial sector, states the Reserve Bank of Fiji’s (RBF) Financial Services Demand Side Survey 2020.
The RBF said the 2020 survey results showed that Fiji had made considerable progress in increasing access to financial services over the past six years.
“The contributing factors to this outcome include the increased adoption of mobile money, significant progress made in narrowing the financial inclusion gender gap and awareness campaigns around the country.
“Despite these achievements there is still a need to address the 19% of the adult population that remain excluded from the financial sector and the persistent financial inclusion gaps among disadvantaged Fijians such as women, youth, persons with disabilities, those in rural and maritime areas and low-income groups.”
The RBF study said the growth and penetration of credit uptake (both formal and informal) remained sub-optimal.
“Some of the factors around this include limited access, poverty, high costs of borrowing or the immediate fall in household income due to the COVID-related economic slowdown.
“There is an express need, highlighted by the data, to undertake a separate inquiry into the factors (both structural and cultural) behind Fijians’ observed reluctance in accessing ‘formal’ credit, even from a ‘trustworthy’ commercial bank.”
