Shamshad Akhtar: Financial inclusion Keynote address by Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, at the Expanding Access to Finance USAID and SHOREBANK INTERNATIONAL WHAM Project 2005-08, Islamabad, 28 March 2008. *  *  *  1. Asia is home to nearly 650 million of poor (defined as 1 dollar a day 1 ) representing 65% world poor.
The importance of the financial dimension for economic development must emerge clearly from today’s seminar. Let us proceed with humility, but also with commitment, in the search for a common language and shared objectives.