Research has shown that better access to banking can help lift people out of poverty. A recent study in Bangladesh confirms that link. But it also suggests that policy makers should consider the large regional and local differences when applying regulations.

The study, detailed in a recent working paper for the Asian Development Bank Institute, matched maps compiled from poverty data in Bangladesh with maps that tracked local-level banking services.

Read the transcript

https://bit.ly/2HouDN3

Read the working paper

https://www.adb.org/publications/regional-variations-banking-services-poverty-reduction-evidence-bangladesh

About the authors

Kazi Iqbal is a senior research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies.

Paritosh K. Roy is assistant professor at the Institute of Statistical Research and Training of the University of Dhaka.

Shamsul Alam is senior secretary of the General Economics Division of the Planning Commission, Government of Bangladesh.

Know more about ADBI’s work

https://bit.ly/2NXnxAg

https://bit.ly/2CeOURR