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Financial Inclusion in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges

Financial inclusion in Egypt has been placed as a top priority on the government’s agenda during the last few years as an integral part of Egypt’s 2030 Vision. Financial inclusion could help Egypt with different aspects that include supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), attracting the info...

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Main Author: Ghebrial, Farid
Format: Thesis
Published: AUC Knowledge Fountain 2019
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access_status_str Open Access
author Ghebrial, Farid
author_browse Ghebrial, Farid
author_facet Ghebrial, Farid
author_sort Ghebrial, Farid
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy.
description Financial inclusion in Egypt has been placed as a top priority on the government’s agenda during the last few years as an integral part of Egypt’s 2030 Vision. Financial inclusion could help Egypt with different aspects that include supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), attracting the informal sector, increasing job creation, achieving sustainable growth, and realizing a higher level of financial stability. Despite the fruitful outcomes of financial inclusion, there are many supply and demand barriers that hamper the promotion of financial inclusion. Supply side barriers are closely related to the regulatory and legal constituents, and pitfalls of market structure. Demand side barriers are users’ limited financial ability, low level of financial literacy, and cultural barriers. The regulatory bodies represented in the Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Egypt, and Financial Regulatory Affairs have taken important practical steps in the different national policy levels to advocate for financial inclusion. The implemented policies targeted many segments of the financially excluded groups of individuals and SMEs. Despite the positive outcomes and good results in terms of financial inclusion level, the different stakeholders need to continue addressing the pitfalls and challenges that encounter achieving an inclusive financial system in Egypt. This research tries to address and pinpoint the different supply and demand side barriers, and analyze the different policies that the Government of Egypt (GoE) pursued throughout the last five years. Qualitative research approach was used in this study by conducting interviews with different stakeholders of financial inclusion. The study endorses the continuous role of the different regulatory bodies in targeting the financially excluded groups by creating a better regulatory and legal framework, introducing better market development practices, embarking on financial institutions capacity building to offer more tailored financial services and address the needs of the citizens and small businesses with limited or no access to financial services. Achieving financial inclusion in Egypt will take time to be progressed in reaction to tackling the supply and demand side barriers. Better financial inclusion could help Egypt in achieving part of its SDS 2030 vision. Key Words: Financial Inclusion, Financial Development, Access to Finance, Supply Side Barriers, Demand Side Barriers, Inclusive Growth, Regulatory and Legal Framework, Micro Finance, Financial Market Development.
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institution American University in Cairo (Egypt)
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license_str Other — see source repository
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publishDate 2019
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spelling oai:fount.aucegypt.edu:etds-1798 Financial Inclusion in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges Ghebrial, Farid Financial inclusion in Egypt has been placed as a top priority on the government’s agenda during the last few years as an integral part of Egypt’s 2030 Vision. Financial inclusion could help Egypt with different aspects that include supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), attracting the informal sector, increasing job creation, achieving sustainable growth, and realizing a higher level of financial stability. Despite the fruitful outcomes of financial inclusion, there are many supply and demand barriers that hamper the promotion of financial inclusion. Supply side barriers are closely related to the regulatory and legal constituents, and pitfalls of market structure. Demand side barriers are users’ limited financial ability, low level of financial literacy, and cultural barriers. The regulatory bodies represented in the Ministry of Finance, Central Bank of Egypt, and Financial Regulatory Affairs have taken important practical steps in the different national policy levels to advocate for financial inclusion. The implemented policies targeted many segments of the financially excluded groups of individuals and SMEs. Despite the positive outcomes and good results in terms of financial inclusion level, the different stakeholders need to continue addressing the pitfalls and challenges that encounter achieving an inclusive financial system in Egypt. This research tries to address and pinpoint the different supply and demand side barriers, and analyze the different policies that the Government of Egypt (GoE) pursued throughout the last five years. Qualitative research approach was used in this study by conducting interviews with different stakeholders of financial inclusion. The study endorses the continuous role of the different regulatory bodies in targeting the financially excluded groups by creating a better regulatory and legal framework, introducing better market development practices, embarking on financial institutions capacity building to offer more tailored financial services and address the needs of the citizens and small businesses with limited or no access to financial services. Achieving financial inclusion in Egypt will take time to be progressed in reaction to tackling the supply and demand side barriers. Better financial inclusion could help Egypt in achieving part of its SDS 2030 vision. Key Words: Financial Inclusion, Financial Development, Access to Finance, Supply Side Barriers, Demand Side Barriers, Inclusive Growth, Regulatory and Legal Framework, Micro Finance, Financial Market Development. 2019-06-01T07:00:00Z thesis application/pdf https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/799 https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1798/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf The author retains all rights with regard to copyright. The author certifies that written permission from the owner(s) of third-party copyrighted matter included in the thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study has been obtained. The author further certifies that IRB approval has been obtained for this thesis, or that IRB approval is not necessary for this thesis. Insofar as this thesis, dissertation, paper, or record of study is an educational record as defined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 USC 1232g), the author has granted consent to disclosure of it to anyone who requests a copy. Theses and Dissertations AUC Knowledge Fountain Financial Inclusion NA NA
spellingShingle Financial Inclusion
NA
NA
Ghebrial, Farid
Financial Inclusion in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges
title Financial Inclusion in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges
title_full Financial Inclusion in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges
title_fullStr Financial Inclusion in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges
title_full_unstemmed Financial Inclusion in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges
title_short Financial Inclusion in Egypt: Opportunities and Challenges
title_sort financial inclusion in egypt opportunities and challenges
topic Financial Inclusion
NA
NA
url https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/799
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/context/etds/article/1798/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT ghebrialfarid financialinclusioninegyptopportunitiesandchallenges