Report on Financial Inclusion (IIF)

One of the objectives of the BCRA is to promote financial inclusion in the light of regulatory challenges presented by technological advances, focusing on the most vulnerable segments of the population and on the gender gap.

The health crisis brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has turned the spotlight on the importance of a deeper financial system for making people’s everyday life easier and for companies to rise to the challenges of an increasingly complex economy.

Households and companies’ financial inclusion is a must to achieve deeper, wide-ranging and fairer financial systems that may promote economic growth and sustainable development.

In Argentina, financial inclusion poses various challenges, from expanding the physical infrastructure to ensuring access to financial products and services, such as bank accounts, electronic means of payment, medium- and long-term credit and saving instruments, along with access to financial education.

For the purpose of monitoring the progress made in financial inclusion among the population and companies, the BCRA conducts continuous follow-up of variables related to the access to and usage of financial services. These metrics are disaggregated as follows: in the case of individuals, by gender, age and location; in the case of companies, by size, activity sector, and location. This enables the BCRA to assess the development of financial inclusion in Argentina before making policy decisions.

The outcome is released every six months in the Report on Financial Inclusion (IIF) together with the measures adopted in this regard. The second report refers to the situation in 2019 and can be construed as a threshold of the financial system in the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of which the National Government established preventive and compulsory social isolation.

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April 30, 2020.