The major focus of the Union Budget for the financial year 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 was to achieve the larger aim of the financial inclusion. It focuses on the poor who do not enjoy the formal financial institutional support and get them out of the clutches of local money lenders. The...

This paper introduces a new index of financial inclusion for 153 advanced, emerging, and developing economies using a comprehensive set of new indicators, grouped into four different dimensions: financial access, usage, financial development, and fintech infrastructure. The fintech...

Financial institutions play a pivotal role in the efficient allocation of capital resources. However, some households and firms may be excluded from formal financial markets due to asymmetric information and market imperfections, thereby adversely affecting equitable income distribution. On the...