PM sets up national steering committee on financial inclusion

The Prime Minister has established a national steering committee to help advise the government in the formulation of financial inclusion policies and programmes.

Vietnam plans to increase the number of communes with financial service centres to at least 50% by 2025.
Vietnam plans to increase the number of communes with financial service centres to at least 50% by 2025.

The committee is also tasked with coordinating and inspecting financial inclusion activities as well as realising the national financial inclusion strategy.

Moreover, the committee will help the PM to introduce international cooperation policies in financial inclusion and consider the implementation of international recommendations on financial inclusion.

The committee is headed by the Prime Minister while the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam acts as its deputy head.

In January, the government approved the national financial inclusion strategy towards 2025, aiming to raise the percentage of adults with bank accounts to at least 80% and to have loans for agriculture accounting for one quarter of total lending.

The strategy also seeks to increase the number of communes with financial service centres to at least 50% of communes in Vietnam over the next five years.