Mobile financial services: Wider access can help raise GDP by 3%: report

Telenor commissions Boston Consulting Group to conduct a study.

KARACHI:

Wider access to mobile financial services in the country can lead to an estimated $2 billion addition to government revenues annually and help raise Pakistan’s GDP growth by 3%, according to a study.

This will also lead to the creation of one million new jobs by 2020, says the study conducted by Telenor Group and Boston Consulting Group.

To discuss these prospects, a seminar titled ‘Shaping our financial future – Socio-Economic Impact of Mobile Financial Services’ was arranged under the aegis of Easypaisa in Islamabad.

Telenor Pakistan CEO Christian Albech speaking about the benefits of mobile financial services said that the study shows that mobile financial services can help families and businesses to respond in a better way and can have positive effects on entrepreneurship.

According to the study, the percentage of Pakistan’s adult population using mobile financial services could go up from the current 2% to 35% by 2020 resulting in higher savings, creation of formal credit channels and improved insurance usage.

Tameer Microfinance Bank CEO Nadeem Hussain said that the mobile financial services can facilitate public services by providing e-government options and help reduce costs of financial transactions such as the disbursement of aid,” he said.





Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2011.