REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto stated that the level of financial inclusion has continued to increase since the establishment of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (SNKI) in 2016. It said that the average increase per year was three percentage points.

In 2023, he said, Indonesia's financial inclusion rate will be recorded at 88.7 percent. That was higher than a year earlier of 85.1 percent, as well as slightly higher than the target of 88 percent.

“Of course, the three main indicators of inclusive finance measured from the indicators of reach, use of financial products, quality in general have also improved significantly,” he said at the opening of the Coordination Meeting of the National Council of Financial Inclusion (DNKI) in Jakarta, Friday (22/3/2024).

It added that the account holding rate had reached 76.3 per cent by 2023, 0.3 points higher than the target of 76 per cent.

Although the level of inclusion has already reached the target, he said, there are still some challenges that need to be addressed. Among them, the gap or gap between inclusion and literacy rates was 35.4 percent.

There was also a disparity in the level of financial inclusion and literacy between regions, between social groups of people, as well as rural communities that are not fully served by formal finance of 29.3 percent. “We also need to encourage optimization of account ownership in various groups of society, people of adult age who do not have accounts in this formal institution of 23.7 percent,” Airlangga said.

He continued that the still low level of financial literacy and uneven use of digital financial services are also a problem. According to the report, 50.32 percent of the population is not yet literate in digital finance.

According to him, legal protection for consumers also needs to be improved. There is also a need for data measurement and inclusive financial measurement in various groups of society including disabled people in backward areas and Indonesian migrant workers.

“There is also a need for inclusive financial data for intervention groups such as disabled people in disadvantaged areas and migrant workers,” he said.