India ranks low in financial inclusion, says ICRIER

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NEW DELHI, July 24 (PTI): India has been ranked poorly, even below African countries like Kenya and Moracco, in the first-ever index of financial inclusion prepared by city -based think-tank I.C.R.I.E.R. to find out the extent of reach of banking services in 100 country's of the world.

India has been placed at the 50th spot, much above Russia but below China, in the index of financial inclusion (I.F.I.) prepared by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (I.C.R.I.E.R.).

The financial inclusion index, which gives the extent of availability and usage of banking services in key nations of the world, is based on indicators like number of bank accounts per thousand adults, number of ATMs and bank branched per million people and amount of bank credit and deposit.

The index assumes significance as one of the major goals of the 11th Five-Year Plan is to work for financial inclusion and extend the reach of microfinance to meet credit needs of approximately 80 per cent of the population not directly covered by banks.

Spain has occupied the top position in the I.F.I., which is based on 2004 data, followed by Canada and Portugal, while countries including Nepal, Zimbabwe and Bostwana are at the bottom of the list.