the cycle of poverty, plan for the future, and 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches seize opportunities for economic development. financial literacy enables people to make informed decision about savings, borrowings, investing, entrepreneurship and protect themselves from financial risks. in this age of digitalization, let us plan to leverage digital platforms for massive outreach and greater impact in empowering individuals with essential financial knowledge. digitalization heralds a promising future where financial literacy becomes more accessible and pervasive than ever before. we envision a future where every citizen has access to banking services through their smartphones, facilitating transactions, savings, and investments with ease. ladies & gentlemen! at the end, i would reiterate that sbp is committed to realizing a future where every citizen, regardless of their background or location, has the opportunity to participate meaningfully in the economic activities. financial inclusion through digital means and financial literacy is not just our vision ; but it is a collective responsibility to build a prosperous and inclusive pakistan. i would like to congratulate the banks receiving awards in recognition of their commendable efforts in championing financial literacy campaigns. i thank you for your time, and look forward to the wide range of interesting and engaging activities to achieve our overarching goal of financial inclusion. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches

in poor rural communities today, data at the national level show a strong economy. unemployment is near a half - century low, and economic output is growing at a solid pace. but we know that prosperity has not been felt as much in some areas, including many rural places. the federal reserve can help by carrying out our monetary policy mission of supporting maximum employment and price stability. we also support strong communities by conducting research, promoting community development, and enforcing laws like the community reinvestment act, which helps ensure that people have adequate access to financial services wherever they live. we not only work with communities, we are in communities, through the presence of our 12 regional reserve banks. poverty remains a challenge in many rural communities. indeed, 70 percent of the 473 “ persistent poverty ” counties in the united states are rural. 2 unemployment and mortality rates remain high in these communities. along with lower incomes and wealth, the rate of business start - ups in these areas is lower. and their residents have less access for a history of the role of hbcus, see, for example, todd greene and ashley bozarth ( 2018 ), “ the critical role of historically black colleges and universities in workforce development, ” in stuart andreason, todd greene, heath prince, and carl e. van horn, eds., investing in america ’ s workforce, vol. 1 : investing in workers ( kalamazoo, mich. : w. e. upjohn institute for employment research ), pp. 189 - 94 ; and ronald a. johnson ( 2018 ), “ hbcus as pipelines for diversified intellect, creativity, and innovation, ” in stuart andreason, todd greene, heath prince, and carl e. van horn, eds., investing in america ’ s workforce, vol. 1 : investing in workers ( kalamazoo, mich. : w. e. upjohn institute for employment research ), pp. 195 - 204. as defined in pl 115 - 31 as counties where 20 percent or more of the population live in poverty as measured by the u. s. census bureau in the 1990 and 2000 decennial censuses ( for more information, see https : / / www. census. gov / programs - surveys / saipe / guidance / model - input - data / decennial. html ) and the 2011 - 2015 american community survey ( https : / / www. census. gov / programs - surveys / acs / technicaldocum