Regional disparity — eating financial dust

The conversation around financial inclusion is still new in Pakistan’s mainstream. But within the self-indulgent policy circle, it’s quite a hot topic — one that gets you conference speaker slots and juicy grants from foreign donors. Unfortunately, it continues to be discussed in very broad terms, at least for the most part, where the lens is typically limited to the national aggregates. For a country as large and diverse as Pakistan, such an approach leaves us oblivious to the regional disparities. Understanding those differences is critical to meaningfully changing the status quo and improving access to financial services. Luckily, there is enough data for us to at least initiate the conversation.