KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) is formulating a new blueprint for the financial sector for the next decade that will ensure the development of a more inclusive financial system, BNM governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said.

She said even in times of economic stability, financial inclusion remained a demanding endeavour, as the outreach needed to be comprehensive to include all income levels while microfinance institutions needed to generate sufficient sustainable returns to remain viable.

Speaking at the Financial Inclusion Advisers (FIA) Programme yesterday, Zeti said the synchronised recession following the global financial crisis and the global economic slowdown in 2009 had made it even more urgent to ensure that sufficient attention and resources were available for achieving the financial inclusion agenda.

The FIA programme was jointly organised by BNM and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

Zeti said Malaysia’s commitment to the financial inclusion agenda was reflected in the new Central Bank of Malaysia Act 2009 which incorporated financial inclusion as an objective of the central bank.

“The results of the financial inclusion measures thus far have shown positive results. In 2009, the penetration of deposit accounts and loan accounts in Malaysia is 3,300 deposit accounts per 1,000 adults and 1,100 loan accounts per 1,000 adults respectively,” she said.

She added that the strategies implemented by the central bank had generated six characteristics of the financial system, including a business environment that allowed a diverse range of financial service providers to thrive and compete, and the availability of products and services at reasonable costs.

In addition, a diverse set of delivery channels has been introduced to ensure widespread access to financial services, while financial literacy and consumer protection have been enhanced.

Zeti said the supporting financial infrastructure to facilitate the operations of financial institutions was an important feature of the financial system.

The FIA programme was also attended by the microfinance community from Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.