The International Monetary Fund today launched a new project to annually compile geographic and demographic data on consumers' access to basic financial services across the world.
Termed 'Access to Finance Project', the initiative is aimed at developing "high-quality, cross-country data for policy makers and researchers," the multilateral lending agency said.
The data reporting system is expected to be in place in the first half of 2010 and the initial project funding would be provided by the Netherlands government.
"It is envisioned that the data system will help identify knowledge gaps and priorities for policies on broadening financial access, and enable authorities to monitor the effectiveness of policies over time," IMF said in a statement.
Moreover, the project would help in promoting research and analysis to better understand the determinants and implications of financial access and usage.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that improvements in data collection would assist policymakers in better understanding the linkage between financial access, economic growth, and poverty reduction.
Specifically, data would be collected on the geographical and demographical outreach of financial services.
"The outreach of financial services is proxied by bank branch network, availability of automated teller machines, and by four key financial instruments: deposits, loans, debt securities issued, and insurance," IMF noted.
