AY2022 Center for Inclusive Leadership（CIL）
Research Project Grant
研究代表者

氏名

所属・職位

Munim Kumar Barai

Research
Representative

Affiliation/Position

研究課題名
Research Title

Financial Inclusion for Inclusive Development: A Study on Bangladesh andIndia

研究メンバー
Research Group
Members

APM

Name

氏名

所属職位

Name

Affiliation

Position

2022 年度 研究成果（研究経過・到達点を明確にご記入ください。800～1,000 字）AY2022 Research Results (Please state clearly the research progress, results, approx. 400 words.)
The study set several objectives when the research proposal during the research period. They broadly
include - the examination of socioeconomic development and the level of financial inclusion of the lessprivileged people in Bangladesh and India, taking stock of the various financial products or intervention
measures introduced by governments, financial institutions, and NGOs in both countries to upscale the reachof financial inclusion; development of an Index about FI and investigate FI's direct and indirect impacts onsocio-economic development; and examining the similarities and differences of the approaches between
Bangladesh and India to upscale the reach and coverage of financial inclusion to include more marginal
people. There are challenges to the existing FI approaches and prescribed steps to enhance their reach toeffectively cover people with low incomes so that Bangladesh’s and India’s development becomes moreinclusive.
The study devoted two years to doing research on various issues related to the project. The progress andresults achieved so far can be listed based on those objectives.

1. An extensive literature review was conducted to get an idea of the state of Financial
Inclusion, Poverty situation, and Socioeconomic Condition of the socially marginalized peopleof Bangladesh and India. This also includes looking at the development character in terms ofinclusiveness from literature from various sources, including publications of premier nationaland international financial institutions and research organizations.
2. In the last two years, I visited Bangladesh and visited different remote places to find the realeffects of inclusive financial products in Bangladesh. The World Bank (World DevelopmentIndicators) data shows that Bangladesh has achieved a reasonably high level of success infinancial inclusion. The most critical financially inclusive product remains the microcreditoffered by various microfinance institutions (MFIs). The research found that more than 30
million poor people are still covered by 747 NGOs in Bangladesh (Microcredit Regulatory
Authority, Annual Report 2021). Another exciting development in Bangladesh is the rapid
spread of mobile banking, as more than 80 percent of 110 million people with mobile phones
and internet access presently have BKASH mobile bank accounts.
3. In the case of India, the impact of the Jan Dhan Yojana (Public Wealth Scheme) initiative has
increased the ownership of bank accounts of the poor people for various financialtransactions under the welfare schemes of the government as this initiative has brought ahuge number of marginal people under the banking coverage. The research has found thatbank accounts have grown “3-fold from 147.2 million in Mar 2015 to 462.5 million in August2022. 56% Jan-Dhan account holders are women, and 67% Jan Dhan accounts in rural andsemi-urban areas, 319.4 million RuPay cards issued to PMJDY account holders. About 5.4
1crore PMJDY account holders received direct benefit transfer (DBT) from the Governmentunder various schemes in June 2022.” The researcher was planning a field trip to India. Thefluctuating COVID-19 situation in the field had forced him to cancel the visit. So, the process
for the Indian part of the research is not up to the expected level.
4. The researcher has to ascertain the impact of COVID-19 on poverty. It is feared thatCOVID-19 is going to negatively impact the progress of poverty reduction efforts, including
through financial inclusion, in both countries.
5. Creation of a Poverty Index and assess the role and effects of FI in poverty reduction andInclusive Development. The Index I am developing is at the trial stage.
6. The researcher has gotten a paper coauthored as a direct outcome of the research. Thearticle has been published in a Q2 category journal. The PI has also been able to co-edit abook on Bangladesh and West Bengal of India, where inclusive finance has been covered,and the PI as an editor has been able to edit the text with confidence.
2022 年度中の研究発表（予定を含めてご記入ください）
Research Publications in AY2022 (journal articles, conferences, etc.) (Please include future plans as well)
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

刊行年月日

Name of Publisher /Name and Volume of Journal

Date ofPublication

Book
Palgrave Macmillan (under Springer),
Two Bengals: The Comparative
Singapore
Development Narratives ofBangladesh and West Bengal of India
ArticleEvergreen, 9(3), 605-618.
Quantitative Easing-II and the Stateof Japanese Banks’ Portfolio
RebalancingandFinancialPerformance

May 2023

ArticleUddin, Helal and Barai, Munim
Kumar. 2022. Will Digital
Revolution be Disruptive for theInclusive Finance in Bangladesh?
The Case of the MicrofinanceIndustry,December
2022

Evergreen, 9(4), 909-923.

タイトル
Title
学会等

出版社／掲載誌・巻号等

学会名
Name of an Academic Conference

September
2022

発表年月日
Date ofPresentation

The Health of Banking Sector inJapan and South Korea: A
Comparative StudyAP Conference 2022

3 December
2022

Book Workshop:
Bangladesh and Pakistan: A
Socioeconomic Tale of TwoCountries

AP Conference 2022

2 December
2022

2

その他
Others2022 年度 開催イベント（予定を含めてご記入ください）
Events in AY2022(Please include future plans as well)

イベントタイトル

イベント詳細開催年月日

Title of Events

Event Description

Date of Event

イベント
Event3