The BC model allows banks to provide doorstep delivery of services, especially cash transactions. To ensure increased banking penetration and control over operations of BCs, more Brick and Mortar branches are needed. In April 2011, banks have been mandated to allocate at least 25 per cent of all new branches to unbanked rural areas.
Given the importance of the topic, not only to Mexico but at the global level, and the quality and experience of our speakers, I have no doubt that this session will be of great interest to all of us. After having shown a pronounced decline for several decades, international food prices started to increase at the beginning of this century, abruptly spiking in 2007–2008.