AY2021 Center for Inclusive Leadership（CIL）
Research Project Grant
研究代表者

所属・職位

氏名

Research
Representative

Affiliation/Position

研究課題名
Research Title

Financial Inclusion for Inclusive Development: A Study on Bangladesh and India

研究メンバー
Research Group
Members

APM/Professor

Name

Munim Kumar Barai

氏名

所属職位

Name

Affiliation

Position

2021 年度 研究経過（研究経過・到達点を明確にご記入ください。800～1,000 字）AY2021 Research Progress (Please state clearly the research progress, results, approx. 400 words.)
The study has proposed to attain the following objectives during the research period.
1. To examine the state of financial inclusion, poverty, and socio-economic development status of the lessprivileged people in Bangladesh and India.
2. To inspect the various financial products or intervention measures introduced by governments, financial
institutions, and NGOs in the respective countries to upscale the reach of financial inclusion.
3. To propose a new Poverty Index about FI and investigate FI's direct and indirect impacts on poverty
reduction and socio-economic development of the poor people in both countries.
4. To identify the similarities and differences of the approaches between Bangladesh and India to upscale thereach and coverage of financial inclusion to include more marginal people.
5. To suggest policy measures to overcome any challenges of the existing FI approaches and prescribe steps
to enhance their reach to effectively cover the poor so that Bangladesh’s and India’s development becomes
more inclusive.
The progress and results achieved so far can be listed based on those objectives.
a. I have already done an extensive literature review to get an idea of the state of Financial Inclusion,
Poverty situation, and Socioeconomic Condition of the socially marginalized people of Bangladesh andIndia. This also includes looking at the development character in terms of inclusiveness. The review
process has been done by retrieving research papers and collecting relevant data from various sources,
including publications of Bangladesh Bank, Reserve Bank of India, Ministry of Finance, Ministry ofSocial Welfare, financial institutions, and research bodies and NGOs of both countries. Relevant
comparable figures of other places in the world have been examined by reviewing the publications ofUNDP, ADB, World Bank, etc. Definitions of Financial Inclusion and Inclusive Development have been
investigated, and they may have to be localized or contextualized in the future after a concrete picture
emerges from the study.
b. Conventionally, poverty is measured in income, consumption, or calorie intake. But it needs to be looked
upon differently in the age of various other elements that also determine household poverty status.
Though India has developed a Multifunctional Poverty Index, Bangladesh is yet to create any such index.
The Indian MPI “captures overlapping deprivations in health, education and living standards (UNDP,2010). It complements income poverty measurements because it measures and compares deprivations
directly.” Apparently, it still does not include households’ access to energy and access to finance(financial inclusion). Creation of a Poverty Index and assess the role and effects of FI in poverty
reduction and Inclusive Development. The Index I am developing is at the trial stage.
c. The structure of a questionnaire has been developed, and I am looking for a filed visit to Bangladesh andIndia, which has been stalled by the existing Covid-19 situation and prevailing barriers to travel.
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2021 年度中の研究発表（予定を含めてご記入ください）
Publication of Research in AY2021 (journal articles, conferences, etc.) (Please include future plans aswell)
発表方法
詳細
Publication
Methods

Details
著書・論文名等
Title of Books or Articles

著書・論文等
Books or Articles

Presentation at anAcademicConference

OthersDate ofPublication

学会名
Name of an Academic Conference

The Solidarity Economic Development
Model of Bangladesh: Can It Offer A
Sustainable Development Path to Other
Developing Countries?
“Post-Covid Model of Global Supply
Chain: Is Disintermediation of China
Possible?”

Portfolio Rebalancing and Performanceof Banks in Japan Since QE2: An
Examination in the Context ofCovid-19

その他

刊行年月日

Name of Publisher /Name and Volume of Journal

TwoBengals:
A
Development Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.
Narrative of Bangladesh and West
Bengal of India (Joint Editor)
Changes in Exchange Rate Regimes FIIB Business Review, Sage
and Some Macro Factors: Their Publishers
Impacts on the Valuation of
Post-Independence Bangladeshi Taka

タイトル
Title

学会等

出版社／掲載誌・巻号等

The International Conference on“Business for Sustainability”
organized by Dhaka University,
BangladeshInternational Symposium on
Emerging Business Models: The
New Normal Phenomenon
Organized By Department ofCommerce, Dayal Singh College,
New Delhi, India,
RCAPS Conference, APU

Seminar at the Korean
Institute of International
Economic Policy (KIEP)

Covid-19 and the ‘Development
Surprise’ of Bangladesh

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Accepted for
publication in 2022
Revised after review
comments. Waiting
for final acceptance

発表年月日
Date ofPresentation

April 25, 2021

September 06, 2021.

December 04, 2021

January 26, 2022

2022 年度 研究計画（800～1,000 字）
Research Plan for AY2022 (Please state clearly the research progress, results, approx. 400 words.)
Overall, the study aims to examine and argue some major issues. They include (a) The level of pre-Covid-19
FI in the economy of Bangladesh and India through the Government, banks, NGOs, and other sources since
2000, (b) FI in both countries has, directly and indirectly, helped reduce poverty and aided socio-economic
development of their underprivileged, (c) There are similarities and differences in the approaches between
Bangladesh and India to upscale the reach of financial inclusion measures for the disadvantaged, and (d) Theremight be ways to address the challenges to existing FI approaches and prescribe steps to enhance their reach.
Of the four major issues that have been proposed to be dealt with, I have made progress with the first two in
the research completed so far. As pointed out earlier, the Covid-19 pandemic has created barriers tocompleting some of the tasks I was supposed to have done by this time. Anyway, in the AY2022, I want tomake progress with the following issues and complete the research.
1. I will conduct sample surveys in Bangladesh and India to see how financial inclusion is impacting thepoverty situation in both countries. This will give a clear picture of the felling of the respondents about
their poverty situation in the context of more financial inclusion. This will focus on the ground realityof the development characters of Bangladesh and India. The income disparity and rising inequality areconcerns in both societies; a fact that needs to be explored is the progress in the wellbeing of individual
households in the development ladder. That can be related to the inclusive development of thecountries as well.
2. I will be analyzing various FI measures used by India and Bangladesh to reach the poor, characteristicsof the financial products, offerors of the products, and the target group. Special focus will be given on
conventional Microcredit and Islamic Finance in Bangladesh, microcredit, and Jan Dhan Yojana ofIndia. The financial efficiency of these products through the usages of quantitative data will beassessed. The similarities and contrasts in the FI approaches followed by India, and Bangladesh will beidentified in the process. As Microcredit in Bangladesh and Jan Dhan Yojana in India are signature FI
products of these countries, they will form the core of the comparison.
3. The dissemination of the research output will remain a major focus of the year’s research. So, theresults will be presented at different conferences and seminars. Offering a comprehensive paper at theAPU Conference in 2022 will form a part of the effort.

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