PERU

On August 5, President Martín Vizcarra adopted Decree No.  255-2019-EF on the National Financial Inclusion Policy (PNIF for its acronym in Spanish) and modified Decree No.   029-2014-EF creating the Multisectorial Commission on Financial Inclusion. This entity will supervise the implementation of the PNIF with a view to “contributing to decentralized and inclusive economic development, involving the public and private sectors, and within the framework of preserving financial stability.” The Plan was enacted on August 6 and will last until December 31, 2030.

The Executive Branch explained that the PNIF is about raising levels of confidence in the financial system among all segments of the population, as well as providing an adequate supply of financial services adapted to the population’s needs and mitigating frictions in the functioning of the market.

With the remit of expanding the supply of financial services, the decree aims to “encourage the design, implementation and deployment of digital financial services” by developing “telecommunications infrastructure and digital platforms.” The measure also establishes that it is necessary to “strengthen the regulatory framework for the development, promotion of access to, and use of, financial services.”

As financial inclusiveness in the country is “insufficient”, according to the text of the decree, being low compared to international levels, this constitutes a “public problem because it restricts the contribution of the financial system to economic growth, productivity and competitiveness, and to the reduction of poverty and inequality.”

The PNIF is one of the measures announced by President Vizcarra on 28 July. It is expected that the Ministry of Economy will pass a decree adopting the Multisectoral Strategic Plan of the National Policy of Financial Inclusion in February 2020.