Financial services lacking in rural areas

​Most rural communities have no readily accessible financial services and people often travel significant distances to access banking services or use an ATM.

A new joint report by the Bank of Papua New Guinea and World Bank has revealed differences between how rural and urban Papua New Guineans are managing their money and how they access financial services.

The report is calling for improvements in expanding financial services, such as banking and insurance services to rural areas and to women in general.

The report also highlighted the need to develop targeted financial education programs.

The survey report was done in Morobe and Madang provinces which provide information on how households in urban and rural areas use formal and informal financial services currently and how they manage and plan their financial resources.

The survey also found out about how they make decision on selection of financial products and services for their households and business.

The report found that up to 80 percent of rural survey respondents and 90% of rural women interviewed owned no formal financial products such as a bank account or loan.

Meanwhile, Bank of Papua New Guinea Governor Loi Bakani said the use of financial services is rather new to many Papua New Guineans.  

He said this report will provide a detailed picture of how our population manages their funds and accesses these financial services so we can develop policies, financial products and services to enhance financial inclusion and improve financial capability in PNG.

Author: 
Freddy Mou