This is of particular benefit in the African context where banks continue to be spread thinly across people’s settlements, particularly in rural areas. In this case, cellular phone networks are enabling previously excluded segments of society to access basic financial services, mainly through money transfer facilities, but increasingly through other features associated with traditional banking.
However, there are compelling reasons to suggest that inflation in the euro area will go up only gradually. They include a legacy of private and public debt that was too high, which led to a fall in economic activity and an increase in unemployment. More recently, global developments which are having a negative impact on inflation have added to this.