Higher headline inflation affects these groups most severely as they are not able to negotiate income increases commensurate with inflation, nor are they able to access financial markets to acquire assets to protect themselves against inflation. The South African economy is characterised by strong pricing rigidities and resilient barriers to entry in many industries.
I find that a number of measures have been initiated to deepen the banking penetration in the region. For example, in West Bengal, a Task Force for extending banking facilities in unbanked Gram Panchayats (GP) was constituted by the State Level Bankers’ Committee in December 2007.