Is Digital Financial Inclusion Unlocking Growth?

By Purva Khera, Stephanie Y Ng, Sumiko Ogawa, Ratna Sahay

June 11, 2021

Preview Citation

Format: Chicago

Purva Khera, Stephanie Y Ng, Sumiko Ogawa, and Ratna Sahay. Is Digital Financial Inclusion Unlocking Growth?, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2021) accessed November 21, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

Digital financial services have been a key driver of financial inclusion in recent years. While there is evidence that financial inclusion through traditional services has a positive impact on economic growth, do the same results carry over for digital financial inclusion? What drives digital financial inclusion? Why does it advance more in some countries but not in others? Using new indices of financial inclusion developed in Khera et. al. (2021), this paper addresses these questions for 52 developing countries. Using cross-sectional instrument variable procedure, we find that the exogenous component of digital financial inclusion is positively associated with growth in GDP per capita during 2011-2018, which suggests that digital financial inclusion can accelerate economic growth. Fractional logit and random effects empirical estimation identifies access to infrastructure, financial and digital literacy, and quality of institutions as key drivers of digital financial inclusion. These findings are then used to help inform policy recommendations in areas related to the digitization of financial services to promote financial inclusion.

Subject: Financial inclusion, Financial markets, Financial services, Mobile banking, Technology

Keywords: A. literature review, Asia and Pacific, Capital markets department, Caribbean, Digital financial services, Digitization of financial services, Financial inclusion, Growth rate, Middle East and Central Asia, Mobile banking, Number in bracket, Regression equation

Publication Details

Pages:

30
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2021/167
Stock No:

WPIEA2021167
ISBN:

9781513584669
ISSN:

1018-5941

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