Sri Lanka’s first National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), launched on March 4, aims to make financial services more accessible, efficient, and affordable for all households and businesses in the country.
The NFIS is a joint effort led by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka—with technical and financial assistance from IFC, a member of the World Bank Group—under the IFC-DFAT Women in Work program. The development of this strategy was a multi-stakeholder effort supported by the government of Sri Lanka.
The new strategy highlights Sri Lanka’s gains in boosting access to financial services, and particularly, on areas of improvement to ensure usage and full financial inclusion in the country.
“The National Financial Inclusion Strategy symbolizes our country’s commitment towards a better and inclusive Sri Lanka that will benefit all individuals and enterprises. I believe this strategy will complement the Government’s efforts to minimize the provincial income disparities, urban-rural inequalities, and to promote inclusive growth,” said Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Rajapaksa added, “More importantly, this strategy prioritizes future generations, having identified financial literacy as a key pillar. The proposal to strengthen the national curriculum in this area is a positive step. Investing in the education of our younger generation is the most significant investment we can make as a nation, as this will be a particularly helpful approach to the systematic correction of the financial habits of Sri Lankans.”
Based on these findings, the strategy is structured around four core pillars—increase access to digital finance and payments, boost access to finance for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), protect financial consumers, and improve financial literacy among consumers, including women.
“The development of the National Financial Inclusion Strategy, a first-of-its-kind in Sri Lanka, was not a single-handed effort of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.” said Deshamanya Professor W D Lakshman, Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
The strategy also identifies key areas that will help boost financial inclusion in the country. These include developing comprehensive and robust data collection mechanisms, improving and expanding financial infrastructure, leveraging policy tools and creating an enabling regulatory environment.
“As Sri Lanka continues to move forward, it’s crucial to have a strong, inclusive and sustainable financial sector. Greater access to financial services means better living standards, better business opportunities and investments,” said Alfonso Garcia Mora, IFC Vice President for Asia and Pacific. “As the new strategy points out, 62 percent of Sri Lankan women were aware of financial transactions through mobile phones, yet only 32 percent were comfortable using the technology.”
IFC has been a longstanding partner of the Central bank of Sri Lanka, joining this initiative in 2018. With the launch of its national financial inclusion strategy, Sri Lanka joins more than 60 countries, which have launched similar strategies across the world.
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