collateral or documentary requirements or they impose prohibitive transaction costs etc ; ( iv ) exclusion because of poverty or illiteracy or cultural and language barriers as a result of which population generally lacks awareness and understanding of financial services and products ; ( v ) exclusion because of lack suitability of products like current accounts, which do not offer an overdraft and an easy route to borrowings ; and ( vi ) exclusion because of regulatory barriers, such as the money laundering guidelines requiring proof of identification which many poor and vulnerable people find difficult to provide. financial inclusiveness is critical as 42 % of pakistan ’ s population is under 15 years of age and about 24 % of the population lives below poverty line, both these segments can benefit from economic empowerment. apart from banks ’ loan pricing policy and lack of easy availability, financial institutions are reluctant to venture into new areas as they do not have the capacity to assess the demand and deliver their financial services. the lack of availability of the faith based system of financial services, lack of alternate delivery channels and financial innovation, inadequate database and information on borrowers, and weak enforcement of contract etc. are some of the main stumbling blocks that prevent inclusiveness of financial sector. d. pakistan – financial inclusive strategy objectives, goals and principles. recognizing the overwhelming size and intensity of financial exclusion in pakistan, sbp in designing the second generation reforms for financial services industry is placing high priority on developing and implementing an effective strategy for financial inclusion. this section offers some perspectives on this strategy. a key objective of the financial inclusion strategy of pakistan is to support the government ’ s target for halving the income poverty headcount by 2015 and to reduce eventually poverty to a single digit. to realize this objective, the government and the sbp has for sometime been creating conducive policy, legal and regulatory framework across the board, while adopting multiple approaches and modalities to extend its net of financial services to larger segment of population. keeping these perspectives in mind, pakistan has adopted a holistic strategy for empowering and enhancing the capacity of poor to contribute and participate in economic growth. on one hand, the government is focusing on enhancing public investment in education and health and a wide variety of poverty alleviation programs. on the other hand, the central bank has been steering a broad - based policy framework for promoting inclusive financial development. the principle thrust of the approaches and programs designed has been to shift emphasis from directed and subsidized credit to adopting best practices and market based approaches

and motivating countries to strive for high financial inclusion goals. the 2030 agenda for sustainable development recognises that eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, including extreme poverty, is the greatest global challenge and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. the apec finance ministers have set a clear objective for this forum which is “ to identify 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches concrete actions that financial policy makers can take to expand the reach of financial services to the underserved. ” now in its 8th year, the forum is taking a distinctive approach by broadening the view on financial inclusion as an enabler of inclusive growth and development with a strong focus on implementation as reflected in this year ’ s theme : “ a call to action - advancing policies, targets and plans. ” wealth creation you will recall, in august 2017, fdc hosted the wealth creation roundtable in port moresby, papua new guinea to discuss strategies for ‘ wealth creation ’ across the pacific region. the question addressed was the definition of financial inclusion to be broadened so that the demand side needs are a more vital contribution to the supply side focusing more on the positive contribution to people ’ s lives, wellbeing and prosperity as opposed to what solution we want to sell them. essentially highlighting that financial inclusion needs to be more than just accessibility and affordability, it is about achieving secure financial outcomes in the form of assets and protections, where wealth building is the aim, and for wealth transfer the inflexion point in sustainable poverty reduction inter - generationally. in png and in other economies, reports show that access to a bank account does not drive usage however mere access to a bank account ‘ counts ’ as being financially included. after reviewing png ’ s first national financial inclusion strategy, two priority areas were added on, that is, the informal economy including agriculture and the resources sector, recognizing the need to leverage opportunities and advance financial inclusion within the resources sector and enhance access to and usage of finance for enterprises in the informal economy including agriculture. as such, the need for ‘ asset building ’ policies and programs as an extension of the focus on financial inclusion of the poor, was highlighted in that 2017 roundtable forum. a means to generate wealth creation can be to define the investment opportunity for superannuation funds into the micro banking sector. there is currently estimated to be over usd 30 billion within superannuation / provident and sovereign wealth funds in the pacific countries, making these funds some