Access to financial services is critical for people to meaningfully participate in and benefit from the monetary economy. Inclusivity extends beyond ownership of accounts for deposits and withdrawals to include: payments, remittances, savings, loans and insurance services. In Papua New Guinea PNG , financial inclusion is extremely low with only 25 per cent of the population having access to financial services.
Since then, PNG has joined international and regional efforts to extend the financial inclusion agenda. Nationally, the Centre for Excellence in Financial Inclusion CEFI was established to coordinate, advocate and monitor national financial inclusion activities.
According to the policy 1. Most workers in the informal economy are financially excluded. Open markets for fresh food remain the major form of informal economic activity in the country. Markets provide the only opportunity for most PNG women to participate in the cash economy. Women vendors dominate market trading and most are financially excluded.
This has major implications for women and their families as well as society more generally, because without access to financial services, economic empowerment for the majority of women who work in the informal economy will be difficult to achieve. This article focuses on financial inclusion from the demand side of women market vendors.
The data used is from a study on understanding the dynamics of the informal economy in Port Moresby. Data was collected using a survey instrument from randomly selected vendors in 10 randomly selected markets and analysed using descriptive statistics. Women vendors comprised Ownership of a bank account is the first step towards financial inclusion.
