RBI’s financial inclusion index:
The Reserve Bank‘s Financial Inclusion (FI) Index, which measures the extent of financial inclusion across India, rose to 64.2 in March 2024, up from 60.1 in March 2023, showing growth across all parameters.
The FI-Index captures information on various aspects of financial inclusion in a single value ranging from 0 to 100, where 0 represents complete financial exclusion and 100 indicates full financial inclusion.
“The index value for March 2024 stands at 64.2 compared to 60.1 in March 2023, with growth observed across all sub-indices,” the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement on Tuesday. The improvement in the FI-Index is mainly driven by the usage dimension, reflecting deeper financial inclusion, it added.
The FI-Index comprises three broad parameters: access (35%), usage (45%), and quality (20%), each consisting of various dimensions computed based on several indicators. Introduced in August 2021, the FI-Index is a comprehensive measure incorporating details of banking, investments, insurance, postal services, and the pension sector, developed in consultation with the government and respective sectoral regulators.
The index is responsive to ease of access, availability, usage of services, and quality of services. According to the RBI, a unique feature of the index is the quality parameter, which captures the quality aspect of financial inclusion as reflected by financial literacy, consumer protection, and inequalities and deficiencies in services.
